Agent Orange a toxic chemical sprayed on the jungles during the Vietnam War to reduce the foliage for better detection of the enemy, may be linked to increased risks of heart disease and Parkinson’s. From 1962 to 1970, American troops sprayed 20 million gallons of defoliants, including Agent Orange, over the jungles of Vietnam. For years, veterans and others have complained about several medical conditions they feel were a result of their toxic chemical exposure.

Researchers reviewed several studies that pointed to an increased risk of reduced blood supply to the heart for those with higher exposure to Agent Orange. The group reviewed 16 studies involving patients with Parkinson’s-like symptoms and considered their herbicide exposure. While some studies suggest a link between Parkinson’s and certain compounds similar to those used in the war the review was impaired by the lack of studies investigating specifically Vietnam veterans, and animal studies involving Agent Orange and risks of Parkinson’s symptoms.

Veterans have complained for years of health problems they believe linked to their exposure to toxic chemicals during war. In the late 1970s, the U.S. government began to investigate the claims. With each new finding, veterans get closer to receiving government paid medical benefits for their particular conditions. For some this could be life changing. Many veterans are physically unable to work due to health conditions, but are not eligible to receive benefits from the government because of lack of evidence their health condition was a result of a war.

Experts claim that once a heart is damaged, it is nearly impossible to fix. Surgical techniques can repair blood vessels and heart valves can be replaced, but once the heart muscle is damaged, there is no known way for it to heal on its own, in part because the cells called cardiomyocytes that are responsible for the development of heart muscle stop dividing and proliferating shortly after birth.   researchers at Children’s Hospital in Boston say they have been able to restart that cell cycle and reverse heart damage in mice without using stem cells.

The researchers recently completed a study of periostin in pigs, which have more in common with humans than rodents do, and the protein is now in preclinical development at Children’s Hospital for future application in human patients with heart failure.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, British Heart Foundation   Associate Medical Director, called the new study “fascinating” and said “if the same mechanisms identified by the researchers can be shown to work in the human heart, it opens up real possibilities for new and more efficient ways to treat people with heart disease.” He added that “up until now, adult heart cells have been widely believed to be incapable of replication.”

A newly developed molecule has been shown to neutralize the genetic flaw that causes the most common type of the muscle-wasting disease, muscular dystrophy. The muscular dystrophies are a group of more than 30 different genetic diseases that are characterized by the progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles that control our movement. Some forms of muscular dystrophy can be seen in infancy or childhood, while other may not appear until middle age or later.

The researchers injected mice with a compound that is found to neutralize the faulty gene activity, after which the mice regained use of muscles that were frozen by myotonic dystrophy. Dr. Charles Thornton, from the University of Rochester in New York and whose study appears in the journal Science, said, “We haven’t corrected the underlying gene abnormality. What we’ve done is made it behave in a more mannerly fashion.”

Myotonic muscular dystrophy, which affects approximately 40,000 people in the United States, is marked by the inability to relax muscles. Thornton said that the people who suffer from myotonic dystrophy have all of the ingredients for a healthy body. “It’s just that some proteins are in the wrong location,” he stated in an interview.

The researchers injected this particular compound into the muscle tissue in the mice that had myotonic dystrophy. The proteins that were stuck together were released and resumed their normal function, which allowed the muscles to relax properly. Thornton said that their study showed promise for a new treatment for humans, but the team is still looking for a better way of getting the treatment into the body than a direct injection into the affected muscles. They also said that there is a need to study whether muscles that have wasted away because of this disease can be restored to normal tone and size after the treatment.

When people discuss the ever-rising costs of health care, one of the most common complaints is the sometimes exorbitant price of prescription medicines. For those with multiple medical conditions or the elderly, the costs can become so overwhelming that overseas options are sought or, worst case, patients refrain from necessary treatments in order to pay for other life necessities.

In a long-term effort to reduce health care costs for Americans in the most need of such assistance, President Obama took another step in the process of reform by announcing an $80 billion deal with pharmaceutical companies to reduce prescription drug costs.

While the details of the plan were vague, it was noted that the $80 billion savings would occur over the course of the next decade and primarily come at the hands of drug manufacturers to try to help those who fall into the category of Medicare prescription drug coverage that leaves many customers with high costs.

Speculation began immediately after the announcement, as both sides of the Congressional aisle and the health care reform issue expressed concerns about the plan. Some believe the $80 billion cut will hurt drug companies, but others argue that drug companies will ultimately manufacture alternatives and benefit from the distribution of higher quantities of cheaper medications.