Soccer, rugby, hockey players better ignore distractions to follow motion with their eyes
Soccer, rugby, hockey players better ignore distractions to follow motion with their eyes
By Laura Sanders
Web edition: January 31, 2013
Humongous hamstrings, bulging biceps and dangerous delts are obvious attributes of professional athletes. But the brain might be the most important asset on the field, a new study suggests.
Pro athletes are better at interpreting abstract moving scenes than are average people, reports Jocelyn Faubert of the University of Montreal. In his study, 102 professional soccer, rugby and hockey players completed a difficult perception task. To perform well, participants had to distribute their attention among multiple targets, ignore distractions, correctly perceive depth and follow lightning-fast dots on a computer screen.
The professional athletes outperformed both high-level college athletes and nonathletes, Faubert writes online January 31 in Scientific Reports. He does not know whether these superior perceptual skills are innate or learned over years of practicing the sport.
Men taking long-acting chronic pain meds 5xs more likely to have low testosterone levelsPublic release date: 31-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Vincent Staupe vstaupe@golinharris.com 415-318-4386 Kaiser Permanente
The study is the first to show a significant difference in risk between short-acting and long-acting opioids
OAKLAND, Calif., January 31, 2013 Low testosterone levels occur five times more often among men who take long-acting instead of short-acting opioids for chronic pain, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in The Clinical Journal of Pain.
While it has been known that opioids cause low testosterone in men, this study is the first to show a significant difference in risk between short-acting (immediate release) and long-acting opioids.
The 81 men in the retrospective study were between 26 and 79 years old (median age 51) and were seen in the chronic-pain clinic at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa Medical Center (Calif.) between January 2009 and June 2010. All of the participants had been on a stable dose of an opioid for at least three months, and none had a previous diagnosis of low testosterone. A larger retrospective study of more than 1,500 male pain patients is currently under way.
"There's a large gap in the evidence base with regard to opioids," said Andrea Rubinstein, MD, of the Departments of Chronic Pain and Anesthesiology, Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center. "More safety and efficacy studies are needed. We need to know how we can prescribe these very useful medications in a way that brings the greatest benefits to our patients, without introducing additional risks."
Once prescribed primarily to cancer patients, the use of opioid-based medications such as oxycodone (Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin) for treating chronic, non-cancer pain has increased dramatically in recent decades. An estimated 4.3 million Americans use opioids on a daily basis for pain.
"For years, doctors have been encouraged to prescribe long-acting opioids rather than short-acting opioids because we believed they were safer, had less abuse potential, and offered more consistent pain control, but no study has ever been able to support this practice," Dr. Rubinstein said.
The study compared the use of short-acting opioids, which immediately release the pain medication and are taken every four to six hours, and long-acting opioids, which slowly release the pain medication and are taken every eight to 12 hours.
A healthy young man should have testosterone levels between 300 and 800 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL); in this study, low testosterone, also known as hypogonadism, was defined as less than 250 ng/dL. Low testosterone levels have been associated with decreases in muscle mass, bone density (osteoporosis or osteopenia), cognition, mood, libido (sex drive) and general quality of life.
Seventy-four percent of the men on long-acting opioids had low testosterone levels, compared with 34 percent of the men using short-acting opioids. After controlling for daily dosage and body mass index, the study found that the odds of having low testosterone were 4.78 times greater for men taking a long-acting opioid than a short-acting opioid. Dose was not associated with an increased risk of low testosterone.
"These medications work well for short-term, acute pain," said Dr. Rubinstein. "It has long been extrapolated that they can also be used safely long-term to control chronic pain. We are now finding that the long-term use of opioids may have important unintended health consequences."
###
Co-authors of the study were Diane M. Carpenter, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research; and Jerome R. Minkoff, MD, Kaiser Permanente Department of Endocrinology, Santa Rosa Medical Center.
The Clinical Journal of Pain is the official journal of the Eastern Pain Association.
About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and the society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 600-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit www.dor.kaiser.org.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Men taking long-acting chronic pain meds 5xs more likely to have low testosterone levelsPublic release date: 31-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Vincent Staupe vstaupe@golinharris.com 415-318-4386 Kaiser Permanente
The study is the first to show a significant difference in risk between short-acting and long-acting opioids
OAKLAND, Calif., January 31, 2013 Low testosterone levels occur five times more often among men who take long-acting instead of short-acting opioids for chronic pain, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in The Clinical Journal of Pain.
While it has been known that opioids cause low testosterone in men, this study is the first to show a significant difference in risk between short-acting (immediate release) and long-acting opioids.
The 81 men in the retrospective study were between 26 and 79 years old (median age 51) and were seen in the chronic-pain clinic at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa Medical Center (Calif.) between January 2009 and June 2010. All of the participants had been on a stable dose of an opioid for at least three months, and none had a previous diagnosis of low testosterone. A larger retrospective study of more than 1,500 male pain patients is currently under way.
"There's a large gap in the evidence base with regard to opioids," said Andrea Rubinstein, MD, of the Departments of Chronic Pain and Anesthesiology, Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center. "More safety and efficacy studies are needed. We need to know how we can prescribe these very useful medications in a way that brings the greatest benefits to our patients, without introducing additional risks."
Once prescribed primarily to cancer patients, the use of opioid-based medications such as oxycodone (Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin) for treating chronic, non-cancer pain has increased dramatically in recent decades. An estimated 4.3 million Americans use opioids on a daily basis for pain.
"For years, doctors have been encouraged to prescribe long-acting opioids rather than short-acting opioids because we believed they were safer, had less abuse potential, and offered more consistent pain control, but no study has ever been able to support this practice," Dr. Rubinstein said.
The study compared the use of short-acting opioids, which immediately release the pain medication and are taken every four to six hours, and long-acting opioids, which slowly release the pain medication and are taken every eight to 12 hours.
A healthy young man should have testosterone levels between 300 and 800 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL); in this study, low testosterone, also known as hypogonadism, was defined as less than 250 ng/dL. Low testosterone levels have been associated with decreases in muscle mass, bone density (osteoporosis or osteopenia), cognition, mood, libido (sex drive) and general quality of life.
Seventy-four percent of the men on long-acting opioids had low testosterone levels, compared with 34 percent of the men using short-acting opioids. After controlling for daily dosage and body mass index, the study found that the odds of having low testosterone were 4.78 times greater for men taking a long-acting opioid than a short-acting opioid. Dose was not associated with an increased risk of low testosterone.
"These medications work well for short-term, acute pain," said Dr. Rubinstein. "It has long been extrapolated that they can also be used safely long-term to control chronic pain. We are now finding that the long-term use of opioids may have important unintended health consequences."
###
Co-authors of the study were Diane M. Carpenter, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research; and Jerome R. Minkoff, MD, Kaiser Permanente Department of Endocrinology, Santa Rosa Medical Center.
The Clinical Journal of Pain is the official journal of the Eastern Pain Association.
About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and the society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 600-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit www.dor.kaiser.org.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2012, file photo, Malians demonstrate in favor of an international military intervention to regain control of the country's Islamist-controlled north, in Bamako, Mali. They carry signs that say 'That's enough, let the government work' right, and 'We Malians Demand Chapter 7,' center, referring to the chapter of the United Nations Charter which would be used to authorize international military intervention. The Pentagon is moving toward setting up a military base in northwest Africa from which to operate surveillance drones to collect intelligence on Islamic militants in the region, several U.S. defense officials said Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan is still in the works, said the base in Niger would position the U.S. to provide more help to French troops fighting al-Qaida-backed militants in neighboring Mali. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)
FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2012, file photo, Malians demonstrate in favor of an international military intervention to regain control of the country's Islamist-controlled north, in Bamako, Mali. They carry signs that say 'That's enough, let the government work' right, and 'We Malians Demand Chapter 7,' center, referring to the chapter of the United Nations Charter which would be used to authorize international military intervention. The Pentagon is moving toward setting up a military base in northwest Africa from which to operate surveillance drones to collect intelligence on Islamic militants in the region, several U.S. defense officials said Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan is still in the works, said the base in Niger would position the U.S. to provide more help to French troops fighting al-Qaida-backed militants in neighboring Mali. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)
In this photo taken on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, provided by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and released Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, a French soldier walks near armored vehicles at the Timbuktu airport, north Mali. Backed by French helicopters and paratroopers, Malian soldiers entered the fabled city of Timbuktu on Monday after al-Qaida-linked militants who ruled the outpost by fear for nearly 10 months fled into the desert, setting fire to a library that held thousands of manuscripts dating to the Middle Ages. (AP Photo/French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD), Arnaud Roine)
In this picture taken on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, provided by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and released Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, a French soldier, second from right, shakes hands with a resident of Timbuktu, north Mali. Backed by French helicopters and paratroopers, Malian soldiers entered the fabled city of Timbuktu on Monday after al-Qaida-linked militants who ruled the outpost by fear for nearly 10 months fled into the desert, setting fire to a library that held thousands of manuscripts dating to the Middle Ages.(AP Photo/French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD), Arnaud Roine)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Plans to base unarmed American surveillance drones in the African nation of Niger highlight the Obama administration's growing concern about extremist influences in the volatile region. They also raise tough questions about how to contain al-Qaida and other militant groups without committing U.S. ground forces in yet another war.
In the short run, a drone base would enable the U.S. to give France more intelligence on the militants that French troops are fighting in neighboring Mali. Over time it could extend the reach not only of American intelligence gathering but also U.S. special operations missions to strengthen Niger's own security forces.
The U.S. and Niger in recent days signed a "status of forces agreement" spelling out legal protections and obligations of American forces that might operate in Niger in the future.
Pentagon spokesman George Little acknowledged the agreement, but declined Tuesday to discuss U.S. plans for a military presence in Niger.
"They expressed a willingness to engage more closely with us, and we are happy to engage with them," Little said, adding that the legal agreement was months in the making and saying it was unrelated to the recent fighting in Mali.
The U.S. has found some of its efforts to fight extremists hobbled by some African governments, whose own security forces are ill-equipped to launch an American-style hunt for the militants yet are reluctant to accept U.S. help because of fears the Americans will overstay their welcome and trample their sovereignty.
At France's request, the U.S. has flown 17 Air Force transport flights to move French troops and their equipment to Mali in recent days, Little said. U.S. aircraft also are conducting aerial refueling of French fighter jets based in Mali, he said, and those operations will continue.
Other U.S. officials said the Pentagon is planning a new drone base in northwestern Africa ? most likely in Niger ? but the plans are not yet complete. It would provide more extended U.S. aerial surveillance of militants in the region without risking the loss of air crews. The main U.S. drone base in Africa is in Djibouti in East Africa.
Niger has accepted the idea of hosting unarmed U.S. drones as well as conventional and special operations troops to advise and assist Niger's military on border security, but it has not endorsed armed U.S. Predator strikes or the launching of U.S. special operations raids from their territory, according to a senior U.S. military official briefed on the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly.
Africa is increasingly a focus of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, even as al-Qaida remains a threat in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. The recent terrorist attack on a natural gas complex in Algeria, in which at least 37 hostages and 29 militants were killed, illustrated the threat posed by extremists who have asserted power propelled by long-simmering ethnic tensions in Mali and the revolution in Libya.
A number of al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist groups operate in Mali and elsewhere in the Sahara, including a group known as Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, which originated in Algeria and is active in northern Mali. Earlier this month French forces intervened to stop the extremists' move toward Mali's capital, and Washington has grown more involved by providing a variety of military support to French troops.
In Addis Ababa on Tuesday, several African and Western nations pledged more than $450 million to fund an African-led military force to fight Islamist extremists in the Mali. And Britain announced it had offered to send up to 200 military officers to help train a West African force in Mali, including as many as 40 who could be sent as part of a European Union training mission of 500 personnel.
African nations including Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Gambia and others lined up with developed countries including the United States, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom to pledge money for the military effort. The U.S. share is to be $96 million, pending congressional approval.
As for al-Qaida-linked groups operating in Mali and elsewhere in northern Africa, the issue for the Obama administration is the degree to which they threaten U.S. security interests.
"AQIM poses a threat in the region, and I can't rule out the possibility that AQIM poses a threat to U.S. interests," Little said. "This is a group that has shown its ability to demonstrate brutality and to conduct attacks. And it is very important that we work with our partners in the region and our allies to thwart them."
Army Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, said last week that the worry is not just the intentions of AQIM but the ability of like-minded groups to leverage their capabilities by working together.
"We're starting to see the increasing collaboration, sharing of funding, sharing recruiting efforts, sharing of weapons and explosives and certainly a sharing of ideology that is expanding and connecting these various organizations," Ham said at Howard University. "And I think that's what poses at least the greatest immediate threat in the region."
The administration has ruled out sending U.S. ground forces to Mali. Its view is that military involvement, while necessary, is not a solution to the region's problems.
"We have said all along that there has to be more than a purely security solution to the problems in Mali, that the security track and the political track have to go hand-in-hand, that a key component of returning stability to Mali includes new elections and overturning the results of the coup firmly," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Monday. She was referring to the coup last spring that prompted the U.S. to withdraw military trainers and cut off other forms of direct military assistance.
Some of the Malian troops that had received U.S. training wound up siding with the rebels in the north, and others who remained loyal to the government proved incapable of standing their ground against the militants.
Adm. Bill McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, told a Washington conference on Tuesday that the key to future U.S. training operations like that is to ensure that the effort is long-lasting.
"We had an episodic presence in Mali," McRaven said, "and while I don't know if a persistent presence would have changed our relationship with the Malian forces -- whether they would have exponentially gotten better or not. "But in order to work with a host country, you really have to have that persistent presence."
___
Associated Press writers Writer Kimberly Dozier and Pauline Jelinek in Washington and Kirubel Tadesse in Ethiopia contributed to this report.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Microsoft has released a retooled version of its Office software in an effort to extend one of the company's most important franchises beyond personal computers.
Tuesday's debut comes six months after Microsoft previewed the new-look Office, which includes popular word processing, spreadsheets and email programs.
The revamped Office boasts touch controls, just like the redesigned version of the Windows operating system that Microsoft Corp. three months ago. The Redmond, Wash., company is trying to ensure its products remain relevant as people increasing rely on smartphones and tablet computers instead of PCs.
Microsoft is offering Office 2013 in a $100 annual subscription package that includes online access on up to five Windows devices or Mac computers. The one-time price to install Office 2013 on a single machine starts at $140.
(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc and Eli Lilly and Co both reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as they weathered generic competition for once top-selling products through deals, cost cutting and strong sales of newer products.
The U.S. drugmakers also issued 2013 forecasts on Tuesday that passed muster with investors, sending shares of both companies up about 3 percent.
Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 47 cents per share, topping analysts' average expectations by 3 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
But global sales for the largest U.S. drugmaker fell 7 percent to $15.1 billion as sales of Lipitor, formerly the world's top selling prescription medicine at nearly $13 billion a year for Pfizer, plunged 71 percent to $584 million with the market flooded by cheaper generic copies.
Pfizer's net profit quadrupled to $6.32 billion, or 86 cents per share, due to the November sale of its nutritional products business to Swiss food group Nestle SA for about $12 billion. It is also preparing to spin off its animal health business through an initial public offering expected to bring in billions more.
"Pfizer is doing exactly what you want them to do," said Bill Smead, portfolio manager of Seattle-based Smead Value Fund that owns Pfizer shares. "Pfizer is moving back to their core with a strong balance sheet and a bright future."
Lilly's fourth-quarter net profit fell more than 3 percent as sales of its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug - at one time one of the world's top five sellers - fell 49 percent to $385 million.
Excluding one-time items such as asset impairments and restructuring charges, Lilly earned 85 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations by 7 cents per share.
Lilly's results and its 2013 forecast were dependent upon aggressive companywide cost controls. Strong sales of other drugs and animal health products helped offset the toll of generic Zyprexa in the fourth quarter.
"We are absolutely emerging from the loss of Zyprexa," Lilly Chief Financial Officer Derica Rice said in an interview. "We feel good where we are."
But the company is facing yet another daunting patent cliff at the end of this year when its current biggest product, the antidepressant Cymbalta, begins to face generic competition.
"They're negotiating the Zyprexa patent cliff pretty well by keeping costs down, but the question is whether they can keep tightening the belt to offset the patent expiration on Cymbalta," said Judson Clark, an analyst for Edward Jones. "It's a $6 billion a year drug, and a tough act to follow."
Lilly updated the 2013 earnings forecast it issued earlier this month, which was better than Wall Street estimates, to include 7 cents per share from a delayed research and development tax credit. It now expects to earn $3.82 to $3.97 per share, which represents growth of 13 percent to 17 percent.
Pfizer forecast 2013 earnings of $2.20 to $2.30 per share, excluding special items, with a midpoint below the average analyst estimate of $2.29 per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Pfizer earned $2.19 a share in 2012.
Pfizer earnings were propped up by rebounding sales in emerging markets, which rose 17 percent to $2.65 billion, and strong sales of its Prevnar vaccine for pneumococcal bacteria, which jumped 19 percent to $993 million. It also recently won approvals for highly promising new products, including the blood clot preventer Eliquis, which it shares with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co , and Xeljanz for rheumatoid arthritis.
"As they pare away non-pharmaceuticals businesses, that will allow Pfizer's drug pipeline to shine even more because it will represent a bigger portion of the company going forward," Clark said.
Smead likes the U.S. pharmaceutical sector as a whole. "The best business over next 20 years is keeping baby boomers alive and keeping their animals alive," he said.
Pfizer shares were up 83 cents, or 3 percent, at $27.67, while Lilly shares rose $1.92, or 3.6 percent, to $54.56 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot, Ransdell Pierson and Caroline Humer; Editing by Jilian Mincer and Maureen Bavdek)
Study finds eating deep-fried food is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancerPublic release date: 28-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Woodward kwoodwar@fhcrc.org 206-667-5095 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Frequent, regular consumption has strongest effect and is linked to more aggressive disease
SEATTLE Regular consumption of deep-fried foods such as French fries, fried chicken and doughnuts is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, and the effect appears to be slightly stronger with regard to more aggressive forms of the disease, according to a study by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Corresponding author Janet L. Stanford, Ph.D., and colleagues Marni Stott-Miller, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow and Marian Neuhouser, Ph.D., all of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division, have published their findings online in The Prostate.
While previous studies have suggested that eating foods made with high-heat cooking methods, such as grilled meats, may increase the risk of prostate cancer, this is the first study to examine the addition of deep frying to the equation.
From French fries to doughnuts: Eating more than once a week may raise risk
Specifically, Stanford, co-director of the Hutchinson Center's Program in Prostate Cancer Research, and colleagues found that men who reported eating French fries, fried chicken, fried fish and/or doughnuts at least once a week were at an increased risk of prostate cancer as compared to men who said they ate such foods less than once a month.
In particular, men who ate one or more of these foods at least weekly had an increased risk of prostate cancer that ranged from 30 to 37 percent. Weekly consumption of these foods was associated also with a slightly greater risk of more aggressive prostate cancer. The researchers controlled for factors such as age, race, family history of prostate cancer, body-mass index and PSA screening history when calculating the association between eating deep-fried foods and prostate cancer risk.
"The link between prostate cancer and select deep-fried foods appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption defined in our study as more than once a week which suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers particular risk for developing prostate cancer," Stanford said.
Deep frying may trigger formation of carcinogens in food
Possible mechanisms behind the increased cancer risk, Stanford hypothesizes, include the fact that when oil is heated to temperatures suitable for deep frying, potentially carcinogenic compounds can form in the fried food. They include acrylamide (found in carbohydrate-rich foods such as French fries), heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (chemicals formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures), aldehyde (an organic compound found in perfume) and acrolein (a chemical found in herbicides). These toxic compounds are increased with re-use of oil and increased length of frying time.
Foods cooked with high heat also contain high levels of advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs, which have been associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Deep-fried foods are among the highest in AGE content. A chicken breast deep fried for 20 minutes contains more than nine times the amount of AGEs as a chicken breast boiled for an hour, for example.
For the study, Stanford and colleagues analyzed data from two prior population-based case-control studies involving a total of 1,549 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,492 age-matched healthy controls. The men were Caucasian and African-American Seattle-area residents and ranged in age from 35 to 74 years. Participants were asked to fill out a dietary questionnaire about their usual food intake, including specific deep-fried foods.
The first study of its kind
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to look at the association between intake of deep-fried food and risk of prostate cancer," Stanford said.
However, deep-fried foods have previously been linked to cancers of the breast, lung, pancreas, head and neck, and esophagus.
Because deep-fried foods are primarily eaten outside the home, it is possible that the link between these foods and prostate cancer risk may be a sign of high consumption of fast foods in general, the authors wrote, citing the dramatic increase in fast-food restaurants and fast-food consumption in the U.S. in the past several decades.
###
The project was supported by the National Cancer Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Editor's note: To obtain a copy of The Prostate paper, "Consumption of Deep-Fried Foods and Risk of Prostate Cancer," visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pros.22643/full
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Fred Hutch's pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer with minimal side effects. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nation's first and largest cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Women's Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Private contributions are essential for enabling Fred Hutch scientists to explore novel research opportunities that lead to important medical breakthroughs. For more information visit www.fhcrc.org or follow Fred Hutch on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Study finds eating deep-fried food is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancerPublic release date: 28-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Woodward kwoodwar@fhcrc.org 206-667-5095 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Frequent, regular consumption has strongest effect and is linked to more aggressive disease
SEATTLE Regular consumption of deep-fried foods such as French fries, fried chicken and doughnuts is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, and the effect appears to be slightly stronger with regard to more aggressive forms of the disease, according to a study by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Corresponding author Janet L. Stanford, Ph.D., and colleagues Marni Stott-Miller, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow and Marian Neuhouser, Ph.D., all of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division, have published their findings online in The Prostate.
While previous studies have suggested that eating foods made with high-heat cooking methods, such as grilled meats, may increase the risk of prostate cancer, this is the first study to examine the addition of deep frying to the equation.
From French fries to doughnuts: Eating more than once a week may raise risk
Specifically, Stanford, co-director of the Hutchinson Center's Program in Prostate Cancer Research, and colleagues found that men who reported eating French fries, fried chicken, fried fish and/or doughnuts at least once a week were at an increased risk of prostate cancer as compared to men who said they ate such foods less than once a month.
In particular, men who ate one or more of these foods at least weekly had an increased risk of prostate cancer that ranged from 30 to 37 percent. Weekly consumption of these foods was associated also with a slightly greater risk of more aggressive prostate cancer. The researchers controlled for factors such as age, race, family history of prostate cancer, body-mass index and PSA screening history when calculating the association between eating deep-fried foods and prostate cancer risk.
"The link between prostate cancer and select deep-fried foods appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption defined in our study as more than once a week which suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers particular risk for developing prostate cancer," Stanford said.
Deep frying may trigger formation of carcinogens in food
Possible mechanisms behind the increased cancer risk, Stanford hypothesizes, include the fact that when oil is heated to temperatures suitable for deep frying, potentially carcinogenic compounds can form in the fried food. They include acrylamide (found in carbohydrate-rich foods such as French fries), heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (chemicals formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures), aldehyde (an organic compound found in perfume) and acrolein (a chemical found in herbicides). These toxic compounds are increased with re-use of oil and increased length of frying time.
Foods cooked with high heat also contain high levels of advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs, which have been associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Deep-fried foods are among the highest in AGE content. A chicken breast deep fried for 20 minutes contains more than nine times the amount of AGEs as a chicken breast boiled for an hour, for example.
For the study, Stanford and colleagues analyzed data from two prior population-based case-control studies involving a total of 1,549 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,492 age-matched healthy controls. The men were Caucasian and African-American Seattle-area residents and ranged in age from 35 to 74 years. Participants were asked to fill out a dietary questionnaire about their usual food intake, including specific deep-fried foods.
The first study of its kind
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to look at the association between intake of deep-fried food and risk of prostate cancer," Stanford said.
However, deep-fried foods have previously been linked to cancers of the breast, lung, pancreas, head and neck, and esophagus.
Because deep-fried foods are primarily eaten outside the home, it is possible that the link between these foods and prostate cancer risk may be a sign of high consumption of fast foods in general, the authors wrote, citing the dramatic increase in fast-food restaurants and fast-food consumption in the U.S. in the past several decades.
###
The project was supported by the National Cancer Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Editor's note: To obtain a copy of The Prostate paper, "Consumption of Deep-Fried Foods and Risk of Prostate Cancer," visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pros.22643/full
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Fred Hutch's pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer with minimal side effects. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nation's first and largest cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Women's Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Private contributions are essential for enabling Fred Hutch scientists to explore novel research opportunities that lead to important medical breakthroughs. For more information visit www.fhcrc.org or follow Fred Hutch on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
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An ancient Chinese practice could make life better for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, according to a small new study.
Researchers from the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas found that practicing qi gong was linked with decreased depression and increased quality of life in women who were undergoing radiotherapy for their breast cancer.
The findings are important because past research has shown an association between depression and worse outcomes for cancer patients.
The new study, published in the journal Cancer, included 96 Chinese women who had stage 1, 2 or 3 breast cancer and were going to the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center in China. About half of the women were assigned to do five qi gong classes, each 40 minutes long, while they were undergoing radiation therapy for five to six weeks. The other half of the women were part of the control group and just underwent standard care during the radiation therapy.
Researchers had the study participants complete assessments on their depressive symptoms, fatigue, sleep and quality of life at the start of the study, during the study, at the end of the study, and one and three months after the study had ended.
Researchers found that women who did qi gong experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms by the end of the study, while women who were in the control group didn't experience any decrease in symptoms. They also noted that the women who had the highest scores on the depression scale were the ones who experienced the greatest benefit -- both in decreased depressive symptoms and improved quality of life -- from qi gong.
However, there were some limitations to the study -- including the fact that only Chinese women who were recruited from one place were used in the study (meaning the findings may not be able to be applied to other groups of people), and that something other than the qi gong itself -- perhaps the fact that it is exercise -- is responsible for the effect.
Qi gong could have beneficial effects beyond cancer patients, too -- a large review of studies that appeared in 2010 in the American Journal of Health Promotion showed that the Chinese practice could improve heart health, bone health and balance.
The battle for international users continues to heat up for streaming music services. Just this morning, Deezer announced expansions into developing markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Brazil, and now Rdio follows with news of its own - it's going free. The company says it's rolling out free web access internationally to all territories where it operates, except for Germany and Brazil.
NEW YORK -- It sounds, at first, like a bold, next-generation solution: personalizing guns with technology that keeps them from firing if they ever get into the wrong hands.
But when the White House called for pushing ahead with such new technology as part of President Obama's plan to cut gun violence, the administration did not mention the concept's embattled past. As with so much else in the nation's long-running divisions over gun rights and regulation, what sounds like a futuristic vision is, in fact, an idea that has been kicked around for years, sidelined by intense suspicion, doubts about feasibility and pressure tactics.
Now proponents of so-called personalized or smart guns are hoping the nation's renewed attention on firearms following the Newtown school massacre will kick start research and sale of safer weapons. But despite the Obama administration's promise to "encourage the development of innovative gun safety technology," advocates have good reason to be wary.
In the fiery debate over guns, personalized weapons have long occupied particularly shaky ground ? an idea criticized both by gun-rights groups and some gun control advocates.
To the gun groups, the idea of using technology to control who can fire a gun smacks of a limitation on personal rights, particularly if it might be mandated by government. At the same time, some gun control advocates worry that such technology, by making guns appear falsely safe, would encourage Americans to stock up on even more weapons then they already have in their homes.
Without the politics, the notion of using radio frequency technology, biometric sensors or other gadgetry in a gun capable of recognizing its owner sounds like something straight out of James Bond. In fact, it is. In the latest Bond flick, "Skyfall," Agent 007's quartermaster passes him a 9 mm pistol coded to his palm print.
"Only you can fire it," the contact tells the agent. "Less of a random killing machine. More of a personal statement."
In real life, though, there's no getting around the politics, and the debate over personalized guns long ago strayed well beyond questions of whether the technology will work.
Those were the first questions asked in 1994 when the research arm of the Justice Department began studying prospects of making a police gun that a criminal would not be able to fire if he wrestled it away during a struggle. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories examined available technology in 1996 and found it promising, but wanting.
By then the notion of a safe gun had long captivated Stephen Teret, a former attorney and public health expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who had gone after automakers for not including air bags in their cars. In 1983, he got a call that the 22-month-old son of a couple he knew had been killed by a 4-year-old who found a loaded gun in a nightstand drawer.
"Very definitely, that was the genesis," said Teret, who went on to found Hopkins' Center for Gun Policy and Research. "Because when one thinks of something as a public health person the first thing is you're sick with grief and the second thing that comes to mind is why in the world would there be a handgun operable by a 4-year-old?"
Teret began trying to get lawmakers and gun makers interested in the concept of personalized weapons. He convinced U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colorado, to earmark funding for the Justice study. And in the mid-1990s he voiced support for a project at Colt's Manufacturing Co., the legendary but beleaguered gun maker that saw an opportunity to sell safe guns to police officers and parents of young children.
Colt's developed a gun equipped with a microchip that would prevent it from firing unless the user was wearing an enabling device located in a special wristband. But gun rights activists were skeptical, partly because the government was funding research of the concept and because gun control advocates like Teret embraced it. At about the same time, New Jersey lawmakers began discussing a measure requiring all new handguns sold in the state to be personalized, three years after the technology came to market. The measure passed in 2002.
Owners' skepticism was heightened in 1997 when Colt's CEO Ronald Stewart wrote an editorial in American Firearms Industry magazine calling on fellow manufacturers to parry gun control efforts by backing a federal gun registry and developing personalized weapons.
"While technology such as this should not be mandated it should be an option for the consumer," Stewart wrote. "If we can send a motorized computer to Mars, then certain we can advance our technology to be more childproof."
Stewart did not respond to a message seeking comment left at a Connecticut company where he now serves on the board of directors.
Soon after, the Coalition of New Jersey Sportsmen ? a state affiliate of the National Rifle Association ? began calling for a boycott of Colt's. It warned that personalized technology might make it difficult for gun owners to defend themselves and called the company's conduct "detrimental to American-style freedoms and liberties."
Stewart was replaced as CEO of Colt's in 1998 and the company eventually abandoned development of a personalized gun.
In 1999, New Jersey's lawmakers approved a grant to researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology to study personalized gun technology. Those efforts focused on adding transducers to a gun's handle to detect the grasp of an authorized user. Meanwhile, the Justice Department offered a challenge grant to gun makers and although two responded, they made limited headway by the time $7 million in funding ran out.
Work on personalized weapons suffered another setback after gun rights' groups boycotted Smith & Wesson over a 2000 agreement it signed with the Clinton administration in which the manufacturer made numerous promises, including one to develop smart guns.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey school, funded by Congressional earmarks, tried repeatedly to find a commercial partner for its work. But even as NJIT bolstered the reliability of its prototype, which now has a recognition rate of about 97 percent, it found it a hard sell. Talks with a Florida gun maker at first seemed productive until industry activists pressured the company to back away, said Donald Sebastian, NJIT's senior vice president for research and development .
"Their claim that these are just blue state liberals looking to take your guns away, it just inflames people to not think a little more rationally," Sebastian said.
"Yes it's a frustrating experience, but we have to be adults," he said. "I think it's been a long lesson to learn that this intermingling of the concepts of gun safety and gun control are ultimately poison."
Mike Bazinet, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gun manufacturers, said questions remain about whether the technology has been improved enough to assure police officers and civilians a personalized weapon would fire when they need protection. But there are also concerns "about individual consumers' ability to choose the firearm that they think is best for them," Bazinet said.
But gun makers and owners have not been the only critics. Activists from the Violence Policy Center, an outspoken gun control group, also spoke against personalized weapons.
"If a smart gun did exist what would its effect be, taking into consideration the nature of gun violence in this country?" said Josh Sugarmann, the group's executive director. "Would you place families at risk or people at risk by giving this impression that this is a safe gun? You know, people who wouldn't normally buy a gun, would they buy one now?"
NJIT's Sebastian, who joined a group of personalized gun advocates who met recently with Attorney General Eric Holder to push for their development, said his school has seen some renewed interest and is talking with officials at Picatinny Arsenal, which develops weapons for the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, two European companies working on personalized gun technology have their eyes on the U.S. market. One of those firms, TriggerSmart Ltd. of Limerick, Ireland, has developed a system using Radio Frequency Identification that would be built into the handle of a gun and triggered by a device the size of a grain of rice inside a user's ring or bracelet. Co-founder Robert McNamara said he is seeking to license the technology to a U.S. manufacturer, but is looking at the possibility of producing kits for retrofitting existing guns.
Another venture, Armatix GmbH of Unterfoehring, Germany, says it has developed a personalized gun, with settings based on radio frequency technology and biometrics, that was approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in late 2011. Armatix said it hopes to begin selling the gun as well as accompanying safety and locking systems in the U.S. this year, but would not provide details.
Teret, who long ago launched the campaign for personalized guns, acknowledged much has to happen before they become a reality. But the White House has promised to issue a report on the technology and award prizes to companies that come up with innovative and cost-effective personalized guns, and its interest has rejuvenated hopes that the gun of the future may actually have one.
"For 30 years, at best we've been inching forward at a glacial pace," he said. "And now this puts it up to warp speed."
___
Associated Press writer David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report. Adam Geller, a New York-based national writer, can be reached at features(at)ap.org. Follow him on Twitter at . http://twitter.com/AdGeller
The first full moon of 2013 will light up the night sky tonight (Jan. 26), but did you know it's a full moon of many names?
Full moon names date back to Native American tribes of a few hundred years ago who lived in what is now the northern and eastern United States. Those tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.
There were some variations in the moon names, but, in general, the same ones were used throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Since the lunar (or "synodic") month is roughly 29.5 days in length on average, the dates of the full moon shift from year to year.
Here is a listing of all of the full moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2013. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern time zone:
Jan. 26, 11:38 p.m. EST ?Full Wolf Moon: Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages.? It was also known as the Old Moon or the Moon after Yule.? In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next moon. [Full Moon: Why Does It Happen? (Video)]
Feb. 25, 3:26 p.m. EST ?Full Snow Moon: Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and, hence, to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.?
March 27, 5:27 a.m. EDT ?Full Worm Moon: In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. TheFull Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. [Phases of the Moon in 2013: A Lunar Calendar]
In 2013, this is also the Paschal Full Moon? the first full moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the paschal moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed four days later on Sunday, March 31.
April 25, 3:57 p.m. EDT ?Full Pink Moon: The grass pink or wild phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and ? among coastal tribes ? the Full Fish Moon, when the shad come upstream to spawn. The moon will also undergo a very slight partial lunar eclipse, which will be visible from the Eastern Hemisphere, but not from North America. At its peak, less than 1.5 percent of the moon's diameter will be immersed in the Earth?s umbral shadow; a very underwhelming event to say the least.
May 25, 12:25 a.m. EDT ?Full Flower Moon: Flowers are now abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. The moon will also undergo a penumbral lunar eclipse, but the passage of the moon's disk into the Earth's shadow will result in one of the slightest eclipses of all, administering a mere touch of penumbral shadow at the northernmost part of the lunar limb.
June 23, 7:32 a.m. EDT ?Full Strawberry Moon: Strawberry-picking season peaks during this month.? Europeans called this the Rose Moon. The moon will also arrive at perigee only 32 minutes earlier, at 7 a.m. EDT at a distance of 221,824 miles (356,991 kilometers) from Earth. So this is the biggest full moon of 2013. Very high ocean tides can be expected during the next two or three days, thanks to the coincidence of perigee with the full moon.?
July 22, 2:16 p.m. EDT?Full Buck Moon: Named for when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms now being most frequent. Sometimes it's also called the Full Hay Moon.
Aug. 20, 9:45 p.m. EDT ?Full Sturgeon Moon: This large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught at this time. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon, because when the moon rises it looks reddish through a sultry haze. It was also known as ?the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
Sept. 19, 7:13 a.m. EDT ?Full Harvest Moon: Traditionally, this designation goes to the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal (fall) equinox. The Harvest Moon usually comes in September, but (on average) once or twice a decade it will fall in early October.? At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by the light of this moon.?
Usually the moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and wild rice ? the chief Indian staples ? are now ready for gathering.
Oct. 18, 7:38 p.m. EDT ?Full Hunters' Moon: With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it's now time to hunt.? Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, as well as other animals, which can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest.?
A penumbral lunar eclipse will also take place. Perhaps for some minutes centered on the time of greatest eclipse (7:50 p.m. EDT) might the penumbra be marginally detectable over the moon?s southernmost limb; for at that moment the penumbral magnitude will reach 76.5 percent.? Those living across the eastern half of North America might see some evidence of this faint penumbral shading soon after local moonrise.
Nov. 17, 10:16 a.m. EST ?Full Beaver Moon: At this point of the year, it's time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon came from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. It's also called the Frosty Moon.
Dec. 17, 4:28 a.m. EST ?Full Cold Moon: On occasion, this moon was also called the Moon Before Yule. December is also the month the winter cold fastens its grip. Sometimes this moon is referred to as the Full Long Nights Moon and the term "Long Night" Moon is a very appropriate name because the nights are now indeed long and the moon is above the horizon a long time. This particular full moon makes its highest arc across the night sky because it's diametrically opposite to the low sun.?
Editor's note:?If you have an amazing picture of the full moon or any other night sky view that?you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send photos, comments and your name and location to managing editor Tariq Malik at?spacephotos@space.com.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The?New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 photo, masked men parade during a protest against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi insurgents are trying to capitalize on the rage of anti-government protesters and the instability caused by rising civil unrest, complicating the government?s efforts to stamp out a resurgent al-Qaida and other extremists. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 photo, masked men parade during a protest against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi insurgents are trying to capitalize on the rage of anti-government protesters and the instability caused by rising civil unrest, complicating the government?s efforts to stamp out a resurgent al-Qaida and other extremists. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 photo, masked men hold copies of the Quran during a protest against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi insurgents are trying to capitalize on the rage of anti-government protesters and the instability caused by rising civil unrest, complicating the government?s efforts to stamp out a resurgent al-Qaida and other extremists. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 photo, masked men parade during a protest against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi insurgents are trying to capitalize on the rage of anti-government protesters and the instability caused by rising civil unrest, complicating the government?s efforts to stamp out a resurgent al-Qaida and other extremists. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 photo, masked men protest against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi insurgents are trying to capitalize on the rage of anti-government protesters and the instability caused by rising civil unrest, complicating the government?s efforts to stamp out a resurgent al-Qaida and other extremists. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
Protesters chant slogans against Iraq's Shiite-led government near a burning Iraqi army armored vehicle during clashes in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Iraqi troops shot dead five protesters Friday as they opened fire at stone-hurling demonstrators angry at the troops for preventing them from joining an anti-government rally west of Baghdad, officials said. (AP Photo/ Bilal Fawzi)
BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraqi insurgents are trying to capitalize on the rage of anti-government protesters and the instability caused by rising civil unrest, complicating the government's efforts to stamp out a resurgent al-Qaida and other militants.
Organizers of the protests attracting minority Iraqi Sunnis insist they have no links to terrorist groups. Yet Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed concern that violent extremists could benefit from the demonstrators' feelings of alienation and hostility toward the Shiite-led Iraqi government.
And tensions are rising.
At least five protesters were killed and more than 20 were wounded on Friday when soldiers opened fire at stone-hurling demonstrators near Fallujah, a former al-Qaida stronghold where tens of thousands took to the streets. Some in the crowd waved black banners emblazoned with the Muslim confession of faith.
They were the first deaths at opposition rallies that have been raging around the country for more than a month. Two soldiers were later killed in an apparent retaliatory attack.
Protesters also have staged demonstrations in other areas with large concentrations of Sunni Arabs, who feel discriminated against by the government. Their list of demands includes the release of detainees and an end to policies they believe unfairly target their sect.
For now, the American Embassy has no indication that al-Qaida is gaining support from the demonstrations. But the fear remains, particularly as the security situation deteriorates in neighboring Syria.
An embassy official said the U.S. had expressed concern that the protesters' peaceful expression of their viewpoints must not be usurped by extremists trying to provoke violence. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Sectarian violence that once pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war has ebbed significantly, though violent attacks aimed mainly at Iraq's Shiite majority, security forces and civil servants still happen frequently.
Insurgents have managed to mount large, mass-casualty bombings of the type favored by al-Qaida on at least five days this month. In another attack, a suicide bomber killed a total of seven when he assassinated a prominent politician who played a leading role in the fight against al-Qaida.
The extremist group later claimed responsibility for the latter bombing and other unspecified attacks.
At least 170 people have been killed in insurgent violence since the start of the year, making January already the deadliest month since September.
Protest organizers and the politicians who support them are eager to distance themselves from extremist rhetoric.
Sunni lawmaker Ahmed al-Alawani recently urged Iraq President Nouri al-Maliki to meet demonstrators' demands so al-Qaida and other militant groups could not exploit their frustration.
That was a sentiment echoed by protest organizer and spokesman Saeed Humaim in Ramadi, a city in western Iraq that has been the focus of daily sit-ins and frequent mass rallies. He said protesters have no intention to take up arms, but will defend themselves if attacked by government security forces.
Still, many Iraqi Sunnis have little doubt that the protests strengthen militant groups.
"I don't think the al-Qaida people would miss an opportunity to move freely when the government and security forces are busy handling these spreading protests," said Ayad Salman, 42, who owns a shoe store in northern Baghdad. "The country is slipping toward a new round of civil war, or at least some groups are planning and pushing for this."
The rallies broke out just over a month ago in Iraq's western Sunni heartland of Anbar following the arrest of guards assigned to the Iraqi finance minister, a Sunni who hails from the province. The vast desert territory on Syria's doorstep was the birthplace of the Sunni insurgency that erupted after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and where Iraqi officials believe al-Qaida's Iraq arm is regrouping.
In an interview aired late Thursday, the Iraqi prime minister suggested that al-Qaida and members of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime have a hand in the demonstrations.
"I hope that these protests would not turn violent ... and drag the country to a sectarian war," he told al-Baghdadiya TV.
Al-Qaida's local affiliate this week posted a statement praising the protesters, saluting what it called "the true Muslims who revolted in defense of their honor and religion."
A senior Iraqi security official who specializes in terrorist activities said al-Qaida is making use of the resentment in predominantly Sunni provinces, where local residents who used to provide authorities tips about terrorist activities are growing much more reluctant to snitch.
He and another senior security official said al-Qaida fighters now have more freedom to move around. That is partly because state security forces' movements are being restricted in Sunni areas so they cannot be accused of unfairly targeting the Muslim sect, they said.
The second official said the demonstrations give extremists a good opportunity to try to mobilize Sunni opposition and portray themselves as the only groups who can safeguard the rights and interests of the Sunni minority.
The Iraqi officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss security operations with the media.
The local wing of al-Qaida, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, generally does not operate beyond Iraq's borders. But al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri last year urged Iraqi insurgents to support the Sunni-based uprising in neighboring Syria against President Bashar Assad, whose Alawite sect is a branch of Shiite Islam.
Iraqi officials believe Sunni fighters aligned with al-Qaida's Iraq franchise are moving back and forth across the Syrian border to help Sunni rebels overthrow Assad.
Rebel gains in Syria are giving Iraq's Sunni protesters and insurgents alike a sense that their fortunes may be shifting too.
"Sunnis seem ascendant in Syria. That is a major psychological boost to the Sunnis in Iraq," said Kamran Bokhari, an expert on Mideast issues for the global intelligence company Stratfor. "They're trying to capitalize on that."
Other militants are trying to tie their fight to the protests too.
Earlier this month, uniformed members of the Naqshabandi Army appeared in an online video urging Iraqis to continue their protests, sit-ins and acts of civil disobedience. It called on security forces to turn their weapons on the "traitors and foreign agents" ? a likely reference to what many Sunnis see is Shiite powerhouse Iran's influence over the government.
The group, a network of former Iraqi military officers and jihadists, frequently claims responsibility for attacks on government security forces.
The highest ranking member of Saddam's regime still at large, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has separately lent his support to the demonstrators. Al-Douri, who is suspected of having ties to the Naqshabandi Army, is thought to have played a key role in financing Sunni insurgents seeking to undermine Iraq's post-Saddam government.
Another small jihadist group, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, put out a statement of its own backing the protest movement.
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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed reporting.
___
Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck
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Public release date: 31-Jan-2013
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The battle for international users continues to heat up for streaming music services. Just this morning,