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Week 46
2 genes cooperate to cause
aggressive leukemia
Two genes, each one of which is known to cause cancer on its own, together can lead to
aggressive leukaemia. This is the conclusion from new research carried out on
gene-modified mice at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The
discovery has surprised scientists, and may lead to new treatments. The two genes are
often present in mutated form in acute leukaemias, but the mutations rarely occur
together. Scientists have previously believed that the two mutated genes have exactly the
same function: each one alone will lead to increased activity of a carcinogenic protein
known as "RAS". This protein, in turn, causes blood cells to proliferate more
rapidly. "This is a surprising discovery that suggests that there is a mechanism
behind the development of cancer that has not yet been recognised. It opens the way for
new methods of fighting blood cancer cells with NF1 mutations", says Associate
professor Martin Bergö, who leads the research at the Wallenberg Laboratory at the
Sahlgrenska Academy.
2-pronged protein attack could be
source of SARS virulence
Ever since the previously unknown SARS virus emerged from southern China in 2003,
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston virologists have focused on finding the
source of the pathogen's virulence — its ability to cause disease. In the 2003
epidemic, for example, between 5 and 10 percent of those who fell sick from the SARS virus
died, adding up to more than 900 fatalities worldwide. Now, UTMB researchers have
uncovered what they believe could be the major factor contributing to the SARS virus'
virulence: the pathogen's use of a single viral protein to weaken host cell defenses by
launching a "two-pronged" attack on cellular protein-synthesis machinery. Their
results show that copies of this viral protein, known as nsp1, directly interferes with
the tiny cellular machines called ribosomes, which make the proteins, such as interferon
beta, that are crucial for immune defense. (If the word "ribosome" sounds
familiar, it's probably because the three scientists who first determined what the
miniature protein factories look like and how they function won the 2009 Nobel Prize for
Chemistry.) Nsp1 is also involved in degrading the biochemical messages that are decoded
by these ribosomes to produce such proteins. "This SARS virus protein, nsp1, binds to
ribosomes to inactivate them and also modifies messenger RNA molecules to make them
unreadable," said UTMB professor Shinji Makino, senior author of a paper on the
discovery appearing in the online edition of Nature Structure and Molecular Biology.
"We think that this property of nsp1 could be a major player in the virulence of
SARS."
A 'spoonful of sugar' makes the
worms' life span go down
If worms are any indication, all the sugar in your diet could spell much more than obesity
and type 2 diabetes. Researchers reporting in the November issue of Cell Metabolism, a
Cell Press publication, say it might also be taking years off your life. By adding just a
small amount of glucose to C. elegans usual fare of straight bacteria, they found the
worms lose about 20 percent of their usual life span. They trace the effect to insulin
signals, which can block other life-extending molecular players. Although the findings are
in worms, Cynthia Kenyon of the University of California, San Francisco, says there are
known to be many similarities between worms and people in the insulin signaling pathways.
(As an aside, Kenyon says she read up on low-carb diets and changed her eating habits
immediately – cutting out essentially all starches and desserts -- after making the
initial discovery in worms. The discovery was made several years ago, but had not been
reported in a peer-reviewed journal until now.) "In the early 90s, we discovered
mutations that could double the normal life span of worms," Kenyon said. Those
mutations effected insulin signals. Specifically, a mutation in a gene known as daf-2
slowed aging and doubled life span. That longer life depended on another "FOXO
transcription factor" called DAF-16 and the heat shock factor HSF-1. Now, the
researchers show that those same players are also involved in numbering the days of worms
who are fed on glucose. In fact, glucose makes no difference to the life span of worms
that lack DAF-16 or HSF-1, they show. Glucose also completely prevents the life-extending
benefits that would otherwise come with mutations in the daf-2 gene.
A Breathing Technique Offers Help
for People With Asthma
Dr. Buteyko concluded that hyperventilation — breathing too fast and too deeply
— could be the underlying cause of asthma, making it worse by lowering the level of
carbon dioxide in the blood so much that the airways constrict to conserve it.
A link between heart disease and
gum disease?
It’s possible, he notes, that the bacteria that cause gum disease directly trigger
the inflamed plaques in blood vessels that can rupture and cause heart attacks. But
it’s more likely that local inflammation in the gums “spills over’’
and causes body-wide inflammation. Chronic inflammation is an underlying cause of a number
of diseases.
A MRSA strain linked to high death
rates
A strain of MRSA that causes bloodstream infections is five times more lethal than other
strains and has shown to have some resistance to the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin
used to treat MRSA, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. The study found that 50
percent of the patients infected with the strain died within 30 days compared to 11
percent of patients infected with other MRSA strains. The average 30-day mortality rate
for MRSA bloodstream infections ranges from 10 percent to 30 percent. Researchers say the
strain USA600 contains unique characteristics that may be linked to the high mortality
rate. But they say it is unclear whether other factors like the patients' older age,
diseases or the spread of infection contributed to the poor outcomes collectively or with
other factors. The average age of patients with the USA600 strain was 64; the average age
of patients with other MRSA strains was 52. The study is being presented at the 47th
annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Oct. 29-Nov.1 in
Philadelphia.
A Potential Anti-cancer Agent
Pateamine A (PatA), a natural product first isolated from marine sponges, has attracted
considerable attention as a potential anti-cancer agent, and now a new activity has been
found for it, which may reveal yet another anti-cancer mechanism. That’s the
assessment of Daniel Romo, a Texas A&M chemistry professor, and his colleagues at
Johns Hopkins University who are pioneers in research involving this novel marine natural
product. Messenger RNA (mRNA), as its name indicates, copies messages from genes on DNA
and uses these messages to produce proteins, and the human body functions well only with
the right types and amount of proteins. So, what happens when mRNA gets damaged? Will the
wrong proteins produced by the wrong messages carried by mRNA damage a person’s body?
A Prospective Nested Case-Control
Study of Dengue in Infants
his prospective nested case-control study of primarily DENV3 infections during infancy has
shown that infants exhibit a full range of disease severity after primary DENV infections.
The results support an initial in vivo protective role for maternally derived antibody,
and suggest that a DENV3 PRNT50 >50 is associated with protection from symptomatic
DENV3 illness. We did not find a significant association between DENV3 ADE activity at
illness onset and the development of DHF compared with less severe symptomatic illness.
The results of this study should encourage rethinking or refinement of the current ADE
pathogenesis model for infant DHF and stimulate new directions of research into mechanisms
responsible for the development of DHF during infancy.
A researcher at the Technical
University of Catalonia (UPC) designs the first ever synthetic gene circuit that works
like that of a natural cell
The experiment, featured on the cover of the leading weekly science journal Cell of
October 30, shows that cells use chance to survive uncertainty. “God does not play
dice,” said Einstein to explain that chance does not intervene in nature. However,
researcher Jordi García Ojalvo, from the Campus of the UPC in Terrassa, has carried out
an experiment, featured on the cover of the leading weekly international journal Cell of
October 30 that shows that this is not the case for living organisms. The experiment is
the first to succeed in creating a synthetic gene circuit that functions in the same
manner as a natural live stem cell. Why do living beings choose to function a certain way?
Why do cells base their operation on certain gene circuits and not others? These questions
are among the central issues of contemporary science; we need to know the answers in order
to understand how living beings work and how cell imbalances cause all kinds of diseases,
from cancer to autoimmune diseases. Researcher Jordi García Ojalvo, from the Campus of
the UPC in Terrassa, has faced these issues by designing the first ever synthetic gene
circuit that works in the same way as an in vivo natural circuit, and he has compared the
two.
A scramble to harness the metabolic
power of brown fat
The discovery in adults of brown fat, a metabolic dynamo, may open weight-loss doors down
the road.
A Test for Brain Injury Creates Its
Own Risks in Children
A new study shows that many receive unnecessary radiation because of the overuse of CT
scans after head injuries.
A third of Americans die in
hospitals, study finds
Nearly a third of Americans who die are in the hospital at the time and their last
treatments cost the U.S. economy $20 billion, according to a report released on Wednesday.
AAP supports the IDF guideline on
oral health for people with diabetes
New clinical guidelines released by the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) emphasize
the importance of periodontal health for people with diabetes. Diabetes affects
approximately 246 million people worldwide, and this number is only expected to increase.
The IDF is an organization of 200 national diabetes associations from 160 countries. The
new IDF oral health clinical guideline supports what research has already suggested: that
management of periodontal disease - which affects the gums and other supporting tissues
around the teeth - can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes; and can also help
people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels. Studies have suggested there is a
two-way relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease, and the IDF guideline
outlines helpful guidance for health professionals who treat people living with and at
risk for diabetes. The IDF guideline contains clinical recommendations on periodontal
care, written in collaboration with the World Dental Federation (FDI), that encourage
health professionals to conduct annual inquiries for symptoms of periodontal disease such
as swollen or red gums, or bleeding during tooth brushing; and to educate their patients
with diabetes about the implications of the condition on oral health, and especially
periodontal health.
Acne Drug Tied to IBD
Use of the acne medication isotretinoin (Accutane) is associated with an increased risk of
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), researchers said here.
Adapting Space-Industry Technology
to Treat Breast Cancer
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center and Argonne National Laboratory are
collaborating on a study to determine if an imaging technique used by NASA to inspect the
space shuttle can be used to predict tissue damage often experienced by breast cancer
patients undergoing radiation therapy. The study is examining the utility of
three-dimensional thermal tomography in radiation oncology.Preliminary results from the
study are being displayed during the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)
Annual Meeting in Chicago, being held from November 1 – 5, 2009. Approximately 80
percent of breast cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment develop acute skin
reactions that range in severity. The more severe reactions cause discomfort and istress
to the patient, and sometimes result in treatment interruptions. The severity is quite
variable among patients and difficult to predict. “Because reactions usually occur
from 10 to 14 days after the beginning of therapy, if we could predict skin reactions
sooner we may be able to offer preventative treatment to maximize effectiveness and
minimize interruption of radiation treatment,” said Dr. Katherine Griem, professor of
radiation oncology at Rush.
Aggressive people have wider faces
Aggressive people are easy to spot because they have instantly recognisable wide faces,
researchers claim.
Aiming to avoid damage to
neurocognitive areas of the brain during cranial radiation
Radiation oncologists at Rush University Medical Center are intent on finding ways to
avoid damage to the critically important hippocampus and limbic circuit of the brain when
cranial radiation is required to treat existing or potential metastatic cancers. The goal
is to spare these areas, which are responsible for short-term memory, as well as emotions,
motivation, and a range of executive functions, such as planning and decision-making.
Cranial radiation is used to destroy tumors that have spread to the brain, which happens
in 20 to 25 percent of all cancer patients. It is also used prophylactically to prevent
the development of overt intracranial metastases in patients diagnosed with small-cell
lung carcinoma. But there is a downside to the treatment. Because the hippocampus and the
limbic area are irradiated along with the rest of the brain, the treatment often causes
memory lapses, difficulty with executive planning, and poor fine motor control. The
consequences can be devastating for patients, whose quality of life is deeply affected. In
a review of records for 107 patients with 700 lesions, the team of radiation oncologists
at Rush found that metastases had occurred in the hippocampus in only 0.8 percent of the
cases, and in the limbic circuit in fewer than 3 percent of cases. That finding emboldened
them to determine whether it might be possible to deliver cranial radiation to the brain,
but not to these particular areas – eliminating metastases or potential metastases
with radiation but sparing the hippocampus and the limbic areas, where metastases were
unlikely to occur.
Aiming to Avoid Damage to
Neurocognitive Areas of the Brain During Cranial Radiation
Radiation oncologists at Rush University Medical Center are intent on finding ways to
avoid damage to the critically important hippocampus and limbic circuit of the brain when
cranial radiation is required to treat existing or potential metastatic cancers. The goal
is to spare these areas, which are responsible for short-term memory, as well as emotions,
motivation, and a range of executive functions, such as planning and decision-making.
Cranial radiation is used to destroy tumors that have spread to the brain, which happens
in 20 to 25 percent of all cancer patients. It is also used prophylactically to prevent
the development of overt intracranial metastases in patients diagnosed with small-cell
lung carcinoma.
Almost half of Americans reject
swine flu vaccine
Just 52 percent of Americans say they're likely to get the vaccine: 33 percent who say
they're very likely to get it and 19 percent who say they're somewhat likely.
Aluminum Hydroxide in Vaccines
Linked to Neurological Damage
"Possible causes of GWS include several of the adjuvants in the anthrax vaccine and
others. The most likely culprit appears to be aluminum hydroxide," says Shaw and
Petrik, researchers at the Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of
British Columbia, Canada.
America's Most Toxic Cities
Poor air quality, lack of clean water and a high rate of superfund sites make these metros
most contaminated.
American Dietetic Association
Releases Updated Position Paper Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding
The American Dietetic Association has released an updated position paper on breastfeeding
that details health benefits for both infants and mothers and encourages promotion of
breastfeeding whenever possible. ADA's position paper, published in the November issue of
the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, represents the Association's official
stance on breastfeeding - It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that
exclusive breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition and health protection for the first 6
months of life and breastfeeding with complementary foods from 6 months until at least 12
months of age is the ideal feeding pattern for infants. Breastfeeding is an important
public health strategy for improving infant and child morbidity and mortality and
improving maternal morbidity and helping to control health care costs.
Anti-tumor necrosis factor
treatment does not increase cancer Risk in RA patients
A recent study by Swedish researchers found that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients did
not experience an elevated cancer risk in the first 6 years after starting anti-tumor
necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. The research team, led by Johan Askling, M.D., Ph.D., from
Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden assessed the short-term and
medium-term cancer risk for RA patients using anti-TNF therapies: infliximab, adalimumab,
and etanercept. Details of the study appear in the November issue of Arthritis &
Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology published by
Wiley-Blackwell. TNF is a cytokine (substance secreted by immune system cells) that
regulates the body's immune system and is involved in inflammation. TNF inhibitors (or TNF
blockers) are a class of therapies used to reduce inflammation in chronic inflammation
such as RA. The common immunosuppressant drugs and those included in the study are
Remicade®, HumiraTM, and Enbrel®. As these therapies are used to treat chronic
inflammatory illnesses, the long-term inhibition of TNF raises concerns for increased risk
of infections and cancer. This study, one of the largest and longest population-based
assessments of cancer risks associated with immunosuppressive therapy, included data from
several Swedish databases including the Biologics Register, the Cancer Register, and the
Early RA Register. Researchers identified and analyzed data from 6,366 patients who
started anti-TNF therapy between January 1999 and July 2006. Data from patients using TNF
inhibitors was compared with other groups of RA patients—61,160 not taking
medication, 4015 using methotrexate (the gold standard in RA treatment) and 4,015 taking
combinations of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (other than TNF inhibitors).
Antipsychotics linked to weight
gain in kids
While weight gain is a known possible side effect of new antipsychotics in adults, a new
study finds a similar relation in children and teens.
Are Proposition 65 warnings
healthful or hurtful?
Two lawyers who have worked cases involving the labels about potentially harmful chemicals
disagree.
As new evidence links mobile phones
to a greater risk of tumours, could using one cost your child their life?
Mobile phones, just how did we live without them? At about 80 million, there are now more
mobiles than people in the UK.
Autism Spikes, Toxins Suspected
As the national focus on the H1N1 pandemic rages, additional evidence of a more insidious
epidemic has emerged, with an all-too-expected shrug from the mainstream media.
B-vitamins may offer relief from
migraines
Supplements of vitamins B-6 and B-12 and folic acid may reduce the frequency, severity and
disability of migraines, according to new research from Australia.
Big protein portions don’t
mean more muscle
UTMB’s Douglas Paddon-Jones was interviewed about a study that he and colleagues
conducted that found only the first 30 grams of protein in a meal, the amount in four
ounces of lean beef, chicken, soy or dairy, is turned into muscle.
Biofield therapies - helpful or
full of hype?
New study reviews science behind efficacy of biofield therapies – Reiki, therapeutic
touch and healing touch. Biofield therapies, which claim to use subtle energy to stimulate
the body’s healing process, are promising complementary interventions for reducing
the intensity of pain in a number of conditions, reducing anxiety for hospitalized
patients and reducing agitated behaviors in dementia, over and above what standard
treatments can achieve. However, longer-term effects are less clear. Dr. Shamini Jain,
from the UCLA Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, and Dr. Paul Mills, from
the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, and the Moores Comprehensive
Cancer Center in San Diego, US, publish their review1 of the science behind biofield
therapies online this week in Springer’s International Journal of Behavioral
Medicine. A significant number of patients use biofield therapies – Reiki,
therapeutic touch and healing touch – despite very little research proving that they
work. These techniques have been used over millennia in various cultural communities to
heal physical and mental disorders. They have only recently been under the scrutiny of
current Western scientific methods.
Birds lose color vision in twilight
Research at the Lund University Vision Group can now show that the color vision of birds
stops working considerably earlier in the course of the day than was previously believed,
in fact, in the twilight. Birds need between 5 and 20 times as much light as humans to see
colors. It has long been known that birds have highly developed color vision that vastly
surpasses that of humans. Birds see both more colors and ultraviolet light. However, it
was not known what amount of light is necessary for birds to see colors, which has limited
the validity of all research on this color vision to bright sunlight only. “Using
behavioral experiments we can now demonstrate that birds lose their color vision in the
twilight and show just how much light is needed for birds to be able to interpret color
signals,” says Olle Lind, a doctoral candidate at the Department of Cell and Organism
Biology.
Bishops ask banana growers to stop
aerial spraying
Four members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have
challenged the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) to exercise
corporate responsibility by stopping the aerial spraying of chemicals in banana
plantations in Mindanao.
Blood vessels might predict
prostate cancer behavior
A diagnosis of prostate cancer raises the question for patients and their physicians as to
how the tumor will behave. Will it grow quickly and aggressively and require continuous
treatment, or slowly, allowing therapy and its risks to be safely delayed? The answer may
lie in the size and shape of the blood vessels that are visible within the cancer,
according to research led by investigators at The Ohio State University Comprehensive
Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in
collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health. The study of 572 men with
localized prostate cancer indicates that aggressive or lethal prostate cancers tend to
have blood vessels that are small, irregular and primitive in cross-section, while
slow-growing or indolent tumors have blood vessels that look more normal. The findings
were published Oct. 26 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Blue energy seems feasible and
offers considerable benefits
Generating energy on a large scale by mixing salt and fresh water is both technically
possible and practical. The worldwide potential for this clean form of energy –
‘blue energy’ or ‘blue electricity’ – is enormous. However, it
will be necessary to work actively on several essential technological developments and to
invest heavily in large-scale trials. On 3 November, Jan Post hopes to obtain his
doctorate on this subject from Wageningen University. The principle of generating
electricity by mixing salt and fresh water, taking advantage of the difference in charge
that results, has been known for more than 100 years. It was first tested in practice in a
laboratory in the 1950s. There are two methods for generating blue energy:
pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis. Jan Post, in his research, has
focused mainly on the latter because it is the more attractive method of generating energy
from sea and river water. With his research into the practical applicability, techniques
and preconditions for large-scale energy generation from salinity gradients, he was the
first to demonstrate that very high yields are possible. In the laboratory, it is possible
to recover more than 80% of the energy from salinity gradients; the technical feasibility
would be 60-70% and the economic feasibility a little lower than that.
Bodybuilding with Steroids Damages
Kidneys
Athletes who use anabolic steroids may gain muscle mass and strength, but they can also
destroy their kidney function, according to a paper being presented at the American
Society of Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego,
CA. The findings indicate that the habitual use of steroids has serious harmful effects on
the kidneys that were not previously recognized. Reports of professional athletes who
abuse anabolic steroids are increasingly common. Most people know that using steroids is
not good for your health, but until now, their effects on the kidneys have not been known.
Leal Herlitz, MD (Columbia University Medical Center) and her colleagues recently
conducted the first study describing injury to the kidneys following long-term abuse of
anabolic steroids. The investigators studied a group of 10 bodybuilders who used steroids
for many years and developed protein leakage into the urine and severe reductions in
kidney function. Kidney tests revealed that nine of the ten bodybuilders developed a
condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a type of scarring within the
kidneys. This disease typically occurs when the kidneys are overworked. The kidney damage
in the bodybuilders has similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appears
to be even more severe.
BPA Safer Than Contraceptives In
Rat Study
The plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA) may not be so bad after all, according to results
from a new animal study funded by the federal government.
Brain tumors in childhood leave a
lasting mark on cognition, life status
Brain tumors in childhood cast a long shadow on survivors. The first study of the lasting
impact of these tumors -- the most common solid malignancies in childhood -- shows that
survivors have ongoing cognitive problems. They also have lower levels of education,
employment and income than their siblings and survivors of other types of cancer,
according to a report published by the American Psychological Association. Given the risks
now seen to confront survivors of brain (also called central nervous system, or CNS)
cancer, programs to support their transition to independent adult life are essential,
according to the study in the November issue of Neuropsychology. The findings, part of a
massive Childhood Cancer Survivor Study conducted by nine major medical centers, were
based on a study coordinated by Leah Ellenberg, PhD, a clinical faculty member of the
David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Researchers
sent a 25-item neurocognitive questionnaire to cancer survivors at least 16 years after a
cancer diagnosis. Some 785 CNS cancer survivors; 5,870 survivors of non-CNS cancers such
as leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, and bone tumors; and 379 siblings of CNS cancer survivors
returned enough information to analyze. In a significant minority of cases, someone else
responded for CNS cancer survivors, an informal sign of the difficulties some may be
having, according to the authors.
Breakthrough documentary
"House of Numbers" challenges conventional thinking on HIV, AIDS
Canadian filmmaker Brent Leung isn't winning any friends in the pharmaceutical industry
these days. His breakthrough documentary "House of Numbers" features
jaw-dropping interviews with doctors, researchers and even the co-discoverer of HIV
himself (Luc Montagnier), all of whom reveal startling information calling into question
the "official" explanation of HIV and AIDS.
Broccoli Sprouts May Cut Stomach
Ulcer Risk
Daily consumption of broccoli sprouts may cut Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections
and offer protection against stomach ulcers.
Burn pit smoke may be making local
soldiers sick
The Department of Defense says its studies don’t bear out that burn pit smoke causes
chronic illnesses.
C8 linked to high cholesterol in
children
Children with more of the toxic chemical C8 in their blood are more likely to have high
cholesterol, according to a new scientific study filed Friday in Wood Circuit Court.
Caltech researchers show efficacy
of gene therapy in mouse models of Huntington's disease
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that a highly
specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is
capable of stalling the development of Huntington's disease in a variety of mouse models.
"Gene therapy in these models successfully attenuated the symptoms of Huntington's
disease and increased life span," notes Paul Patterson, the Anne P. and Benjamin F.
Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences. Patterson is the senior investigator on the
study, which was published in the October 28 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with a genetic basis. The disorder
has its roots in a mutation in a protein called huntingtin, or Htt. (The gene itself is
also referred to as the huntingtin gene.) All versions of the Htt gene have repeats of a
particular trio of nucleotides—specifically, C, A, and G, which together code for the
amino acid glutamine. In most people, that trio is repeated between 10 and 35 times. But
in people who develop Huntington's disease, that genetic stutter goes on and on; they will
have anywhere between 36 to upwards of 120 repeats. The result of all these repeats? An
abnormally long version of the Htt protein, which gets chopped up into smaller, toxic
pieces and accumulates in nerve cells, debilitating them.
Can charcoal fight heart disease in
kidney patients?
Charcoal may provide a new approach to managing the high rate of heart disease in patients
with advanced kidney disease, according to preliminary research being presented at the
American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San
Diego, CA. Patients with advanced kidney disease have high rates of atherosclerosis
("hardening of the arteries") and death from heart disease. Oral activated
charcoal—a product called AST-120—has traditionally been used as an emergency
treatment for certain types of poisoning. Recent studies have suggested that AST-120 may
exert beneficial effects in kidney disease. "We found that oral activated charcoal
lessens atherosclerotic lesions in experimental mice with kidney damage," comments
Valentina Kon, MD (Vanderbilt University). "This is especially important because
there is no effective treatment to reduce the high rate of cardiovascular mortality in
patients with end-stage renal disease." The researchers studied the effects of
AST-120 in mice genetically engineered to develop atherosclerosis. The effects were
assessed in mice with different levels of kidney mass.
Cancerless rodent has genetic
defense
U.S. scientists say they've discovered how the naked mole rat -- the only known animal
that never develops cancer -- defends itself against tumor development. The rodent, also
known as a sand puppy, has a 30-year lifespan that allows ample time for cells to grow
cancerous. But scientists say the animal has never been found with tumors of any kind --
and now University of Rochester biologists think they know why.
Carotenoids may cut risk of
metabolic syndrome in half
Increased intakes of antioxidant carotenoids, and particularly lycopene, may reduce the
risk of developing the metabolic syndrome by about 50%, according to a new study.
Cause of common chronic diarrhea
revealed in new research
A common type of chronic diarrhoea may be caused by a hormone deficiency, according to new
research published in the November issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The
authors of the paper, from Imperial College London, with collaborators from King's College
London and the University of Edinburgh, say their results could help more doctors
recognise this type of diarrhoeal illness, and may lead to the development of more
effective tests and treatments to help improve the lives of many people suffering with
chronic diarrhoea.Chronic idiopathic bile acid diarrhoea affects an estimated one in 100
people in the UK and it can cause people to have up to ten watery bowel movements a day,
often for months at a time. This type of diarrhoea occurs when an overload of bile acid
reaches the colon and causes excess water to be secreted into the bowel. Today's study
suggests that bile acid diarrhoea is caused by the body producing too much bile acid,
because of a deficiency in a hormone called FGF19, which normally switches off bile acid
production. The authors of the study say that new hormone-based treatments could be
developed in the future to treat the condition and doctors could potentially test people's
hormone levels to diagnose it.Dr Julian Walters, lead author of the study from the
Division of Medicine at Imperial College London, said: "Bile acid diarrhoea is a
common condition, likely to affect more people than Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis,
yet until now we did not understand exactly what causes it. People with bile acid
diarrhoea need to use the toilet urgently many times during the day and night. This can
have a big impact on their lives, at home, at work and while they are travelling, as they
always need to be near a toilet. "If they are diagnosed, we have treatments that can
remove bile acid from the colon, alleviate the symptoms and improve their quality of life.
However, the current test used to diagnose the condition is not available in many
countries and requires patients to attend the hospital twice. This means many people are
not diagnosed. Our new findings mean that in the future doctors may be able to diagnose
the condition by doing a quick and simple blood test," added Dr Walters.
CDC Flu Mask Decision Based on
Flawed Study, Authors Say
Authors Retract Study CDC Used to Decide on Surgical Masks to Prevent Flu
Chance of stroke rises with less
magnesium in the blood
Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health have found that low
blood levels of magnesium may increase the risk of stroke by 25%.
Charcoal may help heart of kidney
patients
Charcoal may provide a new approach to managing the high rate of heart disease in patients
with advanced kidney disease, U.S. researchers said.
Childhood cancer survivors less
likely to marry, Yale researchers find
Adult survivors of childhood cancer are 20 to 25 percent more likely to never marry
compared with siblings and the general population, Yale School of Medicine researchers
report in a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a
journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Nina Kadan-Lottick, M.D.,
assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, and colleagues studied
almost 9,000 adult survivors of childhood cancer participating in the multisite Childhood
Cancer Survivor Study. The team evaluated the frequency of marriage and divorce rates
among survivors compared with their sibling groups in the U.S. Census data. Participants
completed mailed surveys every two to three years on their health and psychosocial status
in an ongoing study. Results showed that an estimated 42 percent of survivors were
married, 7.3 percent were separated or divorced and 46 percent were never married.
Patients who were previously treated for a brain tumor were 50 percent more likely than
siblings and the general U.S. population to never marry. Of the childhood cancer survivors
who did marry, divorce patterns were similar to their peers. "Our findings suggest
that in addition to the long-term physical effects of cancer, such as short stature, poor
physical functioning and cognitive problems, social implications also exist," said
Kadan-Lottick, who is a member of Yale Cancer Center.
Children who often drink full-fat
milk weigh less
Eight-year-old children who drink full-fat milk every day have a lower BMI than those who
seldom drink milk. This is not the case for children who often drink medium-fat or low-fat
milk. This is one conclusion of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy. The study
showed that children who drink full-fat milk every day weigh on average just over 4 kg
less. "This is an interesting observation, but we don't know why it is so. It may be
the case that children who drink full-fat milk tend also to eat other things that affect
their weight. Another possible explanation is that children who do not drink full-fat milk
drink more soft drinks instead", says dietician Susanne Eriksson, author of the
thesis.
Cholesterol and cancer
A pair of studies in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, lay to rest the
decades-long concern that lower total cholesterol may lead to cancer, and in fact lower
cholesterol may reduce the risk of high-grade prostate cancer. Demetrius Albanes, M.D., a
senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, said early studies suggested that
low cholesterol could increase the risk of certain types of cancer. "Our study
affirms that lower total cholesterol may be caused by undiagnosed cancer. In terms of
public health message, we found that higher levels of 'good cholesterol' (HDL) seem to be
protective for all cancers, which is in line with recommendations for cardiovascular
health," said Albanes. The researchers observed 29,093 men from the Alpha-Tocopheral,
Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort for 18 years, making it the largest and
longest study of its kind. In that follow-up period, they noted 7,545 cancer cases. Low
total cholesterol blood levels were associated with an 18 percent higher risk of cancer
overall, similar to the increases seen in previous studies, but this risk disappeared when
the researchers excluded cases that occurred in the early years after the original blood
draw.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, cancer
linked to new virus
A newly identified virus has been found to be linked to chronic fatigue syndrome and might
also provide clues about how to prevent prostate cancer, according to a report this month
in the journal Science. Called XMRV, the virus is transmitted in blood and body fluids and
might be a significant public health threat.
Chronic-stress reliever for women
is often high-fat food
But people under chronic stress are more likely than others to say they eat fattening
foods and feel that their eating is out of control, according to a study presented at a
recent meeting of the Obesity Society.
Clean algae biofuel project leads
world in productivity
Australian scientists are achieving the world's best production rates of oil from algae
grown in open saline ponds, taking them a step closer to creating commercial quantities of
clean biofuel for the future. A joint $3.3 million project led by Murdoch University in
Perth, Western Australia, and involving the University of Adelaide in South Australia, now
leads world algae biofuel research after more than 12 months of consistent results at both
universities. "It was previously believed impossible to grow large quantities of
algae for biofuel in open ponds consistently and without contamination, but we've proven
it can be done," says Project Leader Professor Michael Borowitzka from Murdoch
University. The project has received $1.89 million funding from the Australian Government
as part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. "This is
the only biofuel project in Australia working simultaneously on all steps in the process
of microalgal biofuels production, from microalgae culture, harvesting of the algae and
extraction of oil suitable for biofuels production," Professor Borowitzka says.
Climate change threatens lives of
millions of children, says charity
Save the Children urges world leaders at talks in Barcelona to prioritise effects of
droughts, cyclones and floods on children
Coca-Cola link spurs Contra Costa
doctors to quit national association
Nearly 20 Contra Costa County physicians resigned in disgust Wednesday from a national
professional association because of its alliance with the Coca-Cola Co., which they said
conflicts with their fight against obesity.
Colon cancer screening more
effective earlier in day, UCLA study finds
The effectiveness of a screening colonoscopy may depend on the time of day it is
performed. According to a new UCLA study, early-morning colonoscopies yielded more polyps
per patient than later screenings, and fewer polyps were found hour by hour as the day
progressed. The findings, published in the November issue of the journal Clinical
Gastroenterology and Hepatology, point to the need for more research in this area to
possibly improve outcomes for colonoscopy procedures. While the current study was done at
a single institution, the clinical setup is much the same in other practice settings, the
researchers said. "Our research was conducted at an academic-affiliated facility that
far exceeds published quality benchmarks for colonoscopy outcomes," said study author
Dr. Brennan M.R. Spiegel, director of the UCLA/Veterans Affairs Center for Outcomes
Research and Education. "So, if this is occurring at such a high-performing academic
center, it is probably happening at other facilities across the country." Spiegel
noted that although this is a new area of research, other studies have reached similar
conclusions, including recent research from the Cleveland Clinic published in the July
issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
Common Links in Swine Flu Deaths
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of the
36 children who died from H1N1 from April to August, six had no chronic health conditions.
But all of them had a co-occurring bacterial infection.
Common Pain Relievers May Dilute
Power of Flu Shots
With flu vaccination season in full swing, research from the University of Rochester
Medical Center cautions that use of many common pain killers – Advil, Tylenol,
aspirin – at the time of injection may blunt the effect of the shot and have a
negative effect on the immune system. Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., professor of Environmental
Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and of Pediatrics, has been studying this issue for
years and recently presented his latest findings to an international conference on
inflammatory diseases.
Compounds in Berries May Lessen Sun
Damage
New research shows that a compound found in berries, nuts and other fruits might help
prevent wrinkles and repair skin damage caused by the sun.
Consumer group finds elevated BPA
levels in range of foods
Some of the products were labeled 'BPA free.' Finding boosts the case for banning the
chemical additive in materials that come in contact with food and beverages.
Cranberries Provide Eight-Hour
Health Protection
Cranberries may offer help to more than 11 million American women each year who contract
urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs cost some $1.6 billion in healthcare and the only
known treatment is antibiotic therapy, which increasingly contributes to creating
bacterial resistant strains of pathogens.
Critics blast Kellogg's claim that
cereals can boost immunity
"I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden
chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young
children," said Dennis Herrera, the city attorney.
Cultural Beliefs About Pesticides
Put Mexican Farmworkers at Risk
Chemical pesticides are among the tools farmers often use in managing insects dedicated to
dining on our nation’s harvest. Pesticides, unfortunately, are not without risk to
those who labor in the fields and orchards, planting, tending and harvesting crops. This
risk increases for Mexican farmworkers, according to a study appearing online in a
supplemental issue of the American Journal of Public Health. “For one thing, Mexican
immigrant farmworkers’ knowledge of, and beliefs about, pesticides differ from
traditional occupational health definitions, such as those of the Environmental Protection
Agency,” said lead author Shedra Amy Snipes, Ph.D. The EPA, for example, defines
pesticides as any substance intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating
any pest. Yet Snipes says that immigrant farmworkers tell her that pesticides are
substances “that smell badly and are very strong.”
Decrease in physical activity may
not be a factor in increased obesity rates among adolescents
Decreased physical activity may have little to do with the recent spike in obesity rates
among U.S. adolescents, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health. Prompted by growing concern that the increase was due to decreased physical
activity associated with increased TV viewing time and other sedentary behaviors,
researchers examined the patterns and time trends in physical activity and sedentary
behaviors among U.S. adolescents based on nationally representative data collected since
1991. The review found signs indicating that the physical activity among adolescents
increased while TV viewing decreased in recent years. The results are featured in the
October 30 online issue of Obesity Reviews. "Although only one third of U.S.
adolescents met the recommended levels of physical activity, there is no clear evidence
they had become less active over the past decade while the prevalence of obesity continued
to rise," said Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, MS, senior author of the study and an associate
professor with the Bloomberg School's Center for Human Nutrition and the Department of
International Health. "During the recent decade, U.S. adolescents had greater access
to TV, but significantly fewer of them watched TV for three or more hours per day. In
addition, daily physical education attendance rates improved along with the use of
physical education class in engaging in physical activity. However, there are considerable
differences in the patterns by age, sex and ethnicity."
Dendritic cells responsible for
smoldering inflammation in smokers' lungs
Inflammation still ravages the lungs of some smokers years after they quit the habit. What
sparks that smoldering destruction remained a mystery until a consortium of researchers
led by Baylor College of Medicine found that certain dendritic cells in the lung –
the cells that "present" a foreign antigen or protein to the immune system
– provoke production of destructive T-cells that attack a key protein called elastin,
leading to death of lung tissue and emphysema. A report of their work appears in the
current issue of Science Transformational Medicine. The National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute estimates that 2 million Americans have emphysema, most of them over the age of
50 years. People with emphysema find it harder and harder to breathe as the lung's air
sacs or alveoli are destroyed, causing holes in the lung and blocking airways. They have
difficulty exchanging oxygen as their lungs become less elastic. Cigarette smoking is the
greatest risk factor for the disease that contributes to as many as 100,000 deaths each
year.
Dendritic cells spark smoldering
inflammation in smokers' lungs
Inflammation still ravages the lungs of some smokers years after they quit the habit.
Depression can lead to inflated
reports of physical symptoms
New research shows people who feel depressed tend to recall having more physical symptoms
than they actually experienced. The study indicates that depression -- not neuroticism --
is the cause of such over-reporting. Psychologist Jerry Suls, professor and collegiate
fellow in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, attributes the
findings to depressed individuals recalling experiences differently, tending to ruminate
over and exaggerate the bad. Published electronically this month in the journal
Psychosomatic Medicine, the study was conducted by investigators in the UI Department of
Psychology, the Center for Research in the Implementation of Innovative Strategies in
Practice (CRIISP) at the Iowa City VA Medical Center, and the UI College of Nursing. The
109 study participants, all female, completed baseline surveys to assess their levels of
neuroticism and depression. Each day for three weeks, they reported whether they felt 15
common physical symptoms including aches and pains, gastrointestinal and upper-respiratory
issues. On the 22nd day, they were asked to remember how often they had experienced each
physical symptom in the preceding three weeks. People who scored higher in depression were
more likely to overstate the frequency of their past symptoms. "People who felt
depressed made the most errors when asked to remember their physical symptoms," Suls
said. "They tended to exaggerate their experience."
Depression Linked to Processed Food
Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests.
Developmental drug may help bone
fractures heal after radiation exposure
A drug currently under development by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine may
help bone fractures heal more quickly after radiation exposure, according to a study by
Pitt researchers. The study's results will be presented at 1 p.m. today during the
American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in Chicago. The drug,
JP4-039, is a free-radical scavenger targeted to the mitochondria, the energy generator of
all cells. For this study, researchers compared the healing time of fractures in a mouse
model system treated immediately after radiation exposure with JP4-039 against a control
group of mice that did not receive the drug. The fractured bones in the group treated with
JP4-039 healed much more rapidly than the control group. "This study has important
implications on two levels," said study author Abhay S. Gokhale, M.D., M.B.A., chief
resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology. "From a patient care standpoint,
this drug could eventually be beneficial to pediatric cancer patients who are vulnerable
to the late effects of radiation treatment on bone growth and development. From an
emergency response perspective, if the ideal dosage of the drug is developed and we find a
way to have it easily administered, it could potentially help people exposed to radiation
in an accident or attack."
Diet drinks 'could harm the
kidneys'
Research on 3,000 women found that two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day doubled
the risk of a faster-than-average decline in kidney function.
Discovery offers potential new
pancreatic cancer treatment
Tiny particles that can carry drugs and target cancer cells may offer treatment hope for
those suffering with pancreatic cancer. New research to be presented in November at the
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles
reveals that tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) have been specifically designed to
break through hard-to-infiltrate barriers and deliver drugs more effectively and
efficiently than the standard form of chemotherapy such as those injected through a vein.
According to Jessie L.S. Au, Pharm.D., Ph.D., an AAPS fellow and a distinguished
university professor at Ohio State University who initiated the study, TPM are designed to
treat cancer in the peritoneal cavity. The peritoneal cavity contains organs, including
the pancreas, that are home to more than 250,000 new cases of cancer a year in the United
States alone (www.cancer.org). "Pancreatic cancer cells are surrounded by specialized
cells that protect them from chemotherapy," explains Dr. Au. "Our goal is to use
TPM to pass this barrier and successfully deliver drugs to the tumor cells, which is
currently the biggest hurdle a physician faces in pancreatic cancer treatment."
According to the American Cancer Society, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of
cancer in the U.S., with more than 80 percent of the 38,000 patients stricken with the
disease dying within one year of diagnosis.
Does Vitamin D Improve Brain
Function?
We also know vitamin D activates and deactivates enzymes in the brain and the
cerebrospinal fluid that are involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and nerve growth.
Dogs Recruited To Fight War On
Allergies
For people with severe food allergies even the slightest exposure can mean a trip to the
hospital.
Don't worry, be unhappy!
Want to think more clearly, be less gullible and make better decisions? Then wipe that
smile off your face, according to new research highlighted by Reuters.
Drug shows promise in treating
dangerous complication of erectile disorder
Thousands of men are afflicted with an embarrassing and painful condition that triggers
spontaneous, long-lasting erections. There are limited treatment options, but a solution
could be on the way thanks to new research at The University of Texas Health Science
Center at Houston. Priapism is a condition of persistent painful penile erection in the
absence of sexual desire. It is highly associated with sickle cell disease, leukemia and
other blood disorders. It can also result from vasoactive drug abuse. One of the most
dangerous complications seen in priapic patients is penile fibrosis, which can lead to
erectile dysfunction. Priapism can be an urgent urological condition and causes of the
erections lasting at least four hours are unknown. Biochemists in the laboratory of Yang
Xia, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor at The University of Texas Medical School at
Houston, report that an FDA-approved drug called polyethylene glycol-linked adenosine
deaminase (PEG-ADA) relieved symptoms and a major complication in a pre-clinical study.
Current findings appear online and will be in the March 2010 print issue of The FASEB
Journal, the journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Early-stage, HER2-positive breast
cancer patients at increased risk of recurrence
Early-stage breast cancer patients with HER2 positive tumors one centimeter or smaller are
at significant risk of recurrence of their disease, compared to those with early-stage
disease who do not express the aggressive protein, according to a study led by researchers
at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The findings, published today
online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is the first large study to analyze this
cohort and represents a shift in the way women with early-stage HER2 positive breast
cancer should be assessed for risk of recurrence and considered for treatment, said the
study's senior author, Ana M. Gonzalez-Angulo, M.D, associate professor in M. D.
Anderson's Departments of Breast Medical Oncology and Systems Biology. The research was
first presented at the CRTC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December, 2008.
Herceptin, also known as trastuzumab, was approved for use in 1998 for women whose
advanced breast cancer expresses Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2, or HER2.
Approximately 15-20 percent of breast cancer cells produce an excess amount of the HER2
growth protein on their surface, which makes the cancer more aggressive. Herceptin is a
monoclonal antibody that latches on to these proteins and inhibits tumor growth.
"This study represents a current debate within clinical practice - the risk of
recurrence for early-stage breast cancer patients with HER2 positive tumors one centimeter
or smaller," said Gonzalez-Angulo. "Our findings show that women with early
stage HER2 positive breast cancer have a 23 percent chance of recurrence. In contrast, the
five-year survival rate of all women with such early-stage breast cancer is more than 90
percent.
Ease The Aches Of Arthritis
Until recently, we viewed arthritis mainly as the result of wear and tear on the joints
that caused a gradual loss of cartilage, the smooth layer of connective tissue that
enables our bones to absorb the shock of joint motion and to move smoothly and without
pain.
Eating animals is making us sick
On a typical factory farm, drugs are fed to animals with every meal. In poultry factory
farms, they almost have to be. It's a perfect storm: The animals have been bred to such
extremes that sickness is inevitable, and the living conditions promote illness.
Elderly depression lessened when
relatives keep them informed on family matters
The elderly are less likely to feel depressed if their relatives keep them updated about
important family matters, a new study indicates. Researchers at the University of Michigan
and Kyungpook National University looked at how stress and depression affected elders over
age 85. Changes in positive life events—such as a new baby in the family, a personal
achievement by a relative, or improvement in a family member's health—were
significantly associated with changes in depression. "It is important to examine the
issues of stress and depression among elders over the age of 85 as they are the fastest
growing age group," said Ruth Dunkle, a U-M professor of social work.
"Understanding mental health issues among the very old, allows us to design services
targeted to help this specific age group."Elders aged 85 and older are more
vulnerable to stress and depression than any other age groups, as they lose relationships
with family and friends.
Energy gap useful tool for
successful weight loss maintenance strategy
Americans continue to get heavier. Most weight control methods short of bariatric surgery
are generally considered ineffective in preventing obesity or reducing weight. The term
energy gap was coined to estimate the change in energy balance (intake and expenditure)
behaviors required to achieve and sustain reduced body weight outcomes in individuals and
populations. In a commentary published in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of the
American Dietetic Association, researchers more precisely clarify the concept of the
energy gap (or energy gaps) and discuss how the concept can be properly used as a tool to
help understand and address obesity. Investigators from the University of Colorado Denver
and the Procter & Gamble Company, Mason, OH, discuss the two key factors related to
the energy gap concept: prevention of excess weight gain and maintenance of achieved
weight loss. It is estimated that the energy gap for prevention of weight gain among those
who have lost weight is about 100 kcal/day in adults and 100-150 kcal/day in children and
adolescents. Any combination of increased energy expenditure and decreased energy intake
of 100 kcal per day in adults and 100-150 kcal/day for children and adolescents could
theoretically prevent weight regain in 90% of the US population. This suggests that this
small changes approach could be very effective for preventing excessive weight gain in
adults and children. The energy gap to maintain weight loss is generally much larger,
amounting to 200 kcal/day for a 100 kg person losing 10% of body weight or 300 kcal/day
for the same person losing 15% of body weight.
Environmental Influences during
Windows of Susceptibility in Breast Cancer Risk
Recent compelling evidence indicates that breast cancer is an environmental disease. While
exposures to environmental factors are of intense interest to both researchers and
community members, including women with breast cancer, well conducted studies of adult
women have revealed little regarding possible environmental causes of breast cancer. The
study of “windows of susceptibility” in the etiology of breast cancer is of
increasing interest and refers to specific time periods in which breast tissue may be most
vulnerable to the effects of environmental exposures and may directly or indirectly affect
the risk of developing breast cancer. Specific windows exist when physiologic changes
occur in the mammary gland – including gestation, puberty, pregnancy, and lactation -
that likely represent time periods of particular susceptibility to environmental factors
that may influence breast cancer risk. Thus, research focused on these critical periods of
development seeks to improve our understanding of the roles of environmental factors and
their interplay with genetic susceptibility.
Estrogen and stroke risk
Eighteen years ago this month the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it
would sponsor a landmark study to examine women and cardiovascular disease. Known as the
Women's Health Initiative (WHI), the study enrolled more than 161,000 women. By 2004
however, the government had ended two arms of the study involving estrogen after
researchers found it posed a small but detrimental risk for stroke to postmenopausal women
taking the hormone. The findings caught many members of the scientific community by
surprise as estrogen had previously been shown to protect the brain from stroke in animal
models. Stroke, also known as a brain attack, is America's third leading cause of death.
It typically occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked, usually due to a clogged
artery. When a stroke occurs, brain damage can result, especially in the area known as the
hippocampus, thought to be the site for memory, memory loss, and learning. Despite the
possible link between estrogen and stroke many women continue to take the hormone to
manage their menopausal symptoms.
Estrogen therapy likely must be
given soon after menopause to provide stroke protection
For estrogen replacement to provide stroke protection, it likely must be given soon after
levels drop because of menopause or surgical removal of the ovaries, scientists report in
the Journal of Neuroscience. Animal studies indicate a "critical period" for
estrogen replacement and that when therapy is delayed, estrogen receptors on brain cells
are significantly diminished along with the neuroprotection estrogen typically conveys,
according to scientists from the Medical College of Georgia, North China Coal Medical
University and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio. "We
looked at the controversy over whether estrogen is going to be beneficial after long
periods without it and found the answer appears to be 'no,'" says Dr. Darrell W.
Brann, chief of MCG's Developmental Neurobiology Program and the study's corresponding
author.
European Union GM-Labeling Judged
insufficient
France is poised to become the latest in a growing trend of European countries to
introduce GMO-free labels for food in a bid to counter weaker EU standards and to
compensate for a loophole in European labelling laws [1]. Currently, EU labelling laws
mean meat, dairy and eggs from animals fed with genetically modified animal feed do not
have to be labelled.
Exercise Keeps Dangerous Visceral
Fat Away a Year After Weight Loss, Finds UAB Study
A study conducted by exercise physiologists in the University of Alabama at Birmingham
(UAB) Department of Human Studies finds that as little as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or
resistance training helps not only to prevent weight gain, but also to inhibit a regain of
harmful visceral fat one year after weight loss. The study was published online Oct. 8 and
will appear in a future print edition of the journal Obesity. Unlike subcutaneous fat that
lies just under the skin and is noticeable, visceral fat lies in the abdominal cavity
under the abdominal muscle. Visceral fat is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat because
it often surrounds vital organs. The more visceral fat one has, the greater is the chance
of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Experimental agent reduces breast
cancer metastasis to bone
Researchers have reduced breast cancer metastasis to bone using an experimental agent to
inhibit ROCK, a protein that was found to be over-expressed in metastatic breast cancer.
In a study in mice, the team of researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine, the
Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, and Tufts Medical Center report
that inhibiting ROCK, or Rho-associated kinase, in the earliest stages of breast cancer
decreased metastatic tumor mass in bone by 77 percent and overall frequency of metastasis
by 36 percent. The results suggest that ROCK may be a target for new drug therapies to
reduce breast cancer metastasis. "While the primary tumor causes significant illness
and requires treatment, metastasis accounts for over 90 percent of breast cancer-related
deaths. There are no treatments to eradicate metastasis. Establishing ROCK's role in the
spread of breast cancer and identifying agents to inhibit ROCK brings us one step closer
to an approach that might reduce metastasis in the future," said senior author
Michael Rosenblatt, MD, professor of physiology and medicine at Tufts University School of
Medicine and member of the cellular and molecular physiology program faculty at the
Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts. Rosenblatt is also dean of Tufts
University School of Medicine. "We also found that using shRNA – short hairpin
RNA – to knock down ROCK expression slowed metastasis. In order for cancer cells to
migrate, an extensive transportation apparatus is required. ROCK directs the formation of
this apparatus, but use of the ROCK inhibitor as well as shRNA rendered the cells'
transportation mechanism ineffective, significantly reducing breast cancer metastasis to
bone," said first author Sijin Liu, PhD, research instructor and member of the
Rosenblatt Laboratory at Tufts. "This study also revealed that a specific microRNA
cluster, 17 through 92, is associated with ROCK expression and breast cancer metastasis.
The microRNA cluster responded to ROCK inhibition, which provides insight into the
mechanism driving metastasis and is a finding that will be of particular interest to
researchers focused on the role of microRNAs in gene expression," continued Liu.
Fair Trade labels no solution for
poor farmers
Fair Trade labeling can work on a small scale, as a niche market. On the other hand, Fair
Trade labels are not the right way to change the situation for the great majority of poor
farmers. This is shown in the report What Does Fair Trade Labeling Achieve? from AgriFood
Economics Centre, Lund University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
(SLU). Fair Trade labeling is based on farmers receiving a guaranteed minimum price for
their production. The problem is that there are no resources to finance, on a large scale,
a minimum price that is higher than the world market price – the number of poor
farmers is simply too great in relation to the number of well-heeled consumers who can and
want to pay more for the food proucts.There are 880 million poor farmers in the rural
parts of developing countries, and 1.5 million of them are associated with Fair Trade.
This means that this labeling has no chance of truly combating poverty and improving the
living conditions of the great majority of farmers in developing countries.
FDA aims to fight avoidable harm
from medicines
- U.S. health officials unveiled plans to fight avoidable injuries from medication errors
or misuse, a problem that harms hundreds of thousands of people each year and can be
deadly.
FDA urged to ban feeding of chicken
feces to cattle
Food and consumer groups say the practice increases the risk of cattle becoming infected
with mad cow disease. A beef industry trade group say a ban isn't needed.
Fibre may help asthma, diabetes
Modern diets high in processed foods that contain little fibre may be behind the rise in
recent decades of inflammatory diseases such as asthma and Type 1 diabetes, say Sydney
scientists who have found fibre consumption can trigger the production of immune molecules
in the gut.
Finding a Better 'Position' to Deal
With Disease
Patients Fighting Cancer and ADHD Find Hope Using Yoga to Battle Their Diseases
First impressions count when making
personality judgments, new research shows
First impressions do matter when it comes to communicating personality through appearance,
according to new research by psychologists Laura Naumann of Sonoma State University and
Sam Gosling of The University of Texas at Austin. Despite the crucial role of physical
appearance in creating first impressions, until now little research has examined the
accuracy of personality impressions based on appearance alone. These findings will be
published in the December 2009 issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
co-written with Simine Vazire (Washington University in St. Louis) and Peter J. Rentfrow
(University of Cambridge). "In an age dominated by social media where personal
photographs are ubiquitous, it becomes important to understand the ways personality is
communicated via our appearance," says Naumann. "The appearance one portrays in
his or her photographs has important implications for their professional and social
life." In the study, observers viewed full-body photographs of 123 people they had
never met before. The targets were viewed either in a controlled pose with a neutral
facial expression or in a naturally expressed pose. The accuracy of the judgments was
gauged by comparing them to the aggregate of self-ratings and that of three informants who
knew the targets well, a criterion now widely regarded as the gold standard in personality
research. Even when viewing the targets in the controlled pose, the observers could
accurately judge some major personality traits, including extraversion and self-esteem.
But most traits were hard to detect under these conditions. When observers saw naturally
expressive behavior (such as a smiling expression or energetic stance), their judgments
were accurate for nine of the 10 personality traits. The 10 traits were extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, likability, self-esteem,
loneliness, religiosity and political orientation.
Fish reveals secret of regeneration
A tiny fish has taken scientists a step closer to unlocking the secrets of body part
regeneration, a power possessed by some animals but not humans.
Flu vaccine given to women during
pregnancy keeps infants out of the hospital
Infants born to women who received influenza vaccine during pregnancy were hospitalized at
a lower rate than infants born to unvaccinated mothers, according to preliminary results
of an ongoing study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine. The team presented the
study October 29 at the 47th annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
in Philadelphia. Influenza is a major cause of serious respiratory disease in pregnant
women and of hospitalization in infants. Although the flu vaccine is recommended for all
pregnant women and children, no vaccine is approved for infants less than six months of
age. Preventive strategies for this age group include general infection control and
vaccination of those coming in close contact with them. Few studies have examined the
effectiveness of the flu vaccine during pregnancy. Led by Marietta Vázquez, M.D.,
assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, this new study is a
case-control trial of the effectiveness of vaccinating pregnant women to prevent
hospitalization of their infants. During nine flu seasons from 2000 to 2009, Vázquez and
colleagues identified and tracked over 350 mothers and infants from 0 to 12 months of age
who were hospitalized at Yale-New Haven Hospital. They compared 157 infants hospitalized
due to influenza to 230 influenza-negative infants matched by age and date of
hospitalization. The team interviewed parents to determine risk factors for influenza and
reviewed medical records of both infants and their mothers to determine rates of
vaccination with the influenza vaccine. "We found that vaccinating mothers during
pregnancy was 80 percent effective in preventing hospitalization due to influenza in their
infants during the first year of life and 89 percent effective in preventing
hospitalization in infants under six months of age," said Vázquez.
Flu vaccine video uses humor to ask
a serious question
Why are we still using eggs to make flu vaccine?
Food Industry Dictates Nutrition
Policy
It is amazing that CNN is covering this topic. It is clearly a signal that the industrial
farming system has gotten completely out of hand and dangerous when mainstream media
outlets like CNN and the Washington Post are suddenly hiring young, attractive food
writers to tell us to cut back on our meat consumption.
For African violets, 'hands off'
means healthier
African violets have a mixed reputation. Their delicate, colorful flowers and furry, soft
leaves make them a favorite among home gardeners and growers. But the striking plants are
often regarded as temperamental: a precise recipe of light, moisture, warm temperatures,
high humidity, and fertilizer is required to encourage african violets to grow and flower.
A recently published study by scientists Julia C. Brotton and Janet C. Cole from the
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Oklahoma State University (in a
recent issue of HortTechnology) could provide african violet enthusiasts with important
care information about the finicky flower. Because of their brightly colored flowers and
hairy leaves, people are attracted to african violets and often want to touch the leaves
and flowers. But how does all this attention affect the plants? The research team set out
to determine the effect of "brushing" african violet leaves on plant growth and
quality. Cole explained, "Because (african violet) growers work in conditions that
can contribute to the development of dry, irritated skin, many growers use body lotions to
help soothe and moisturize their dry skin. Many consumers also use these products. Our
study researched whether touching or "brushing" african violet leaves causes
damage, particularly when body lotion or other skin care products have been applied to
hands before touching the plants."
Friendly Bacteria Blunt
Anti-Nutrient Action
The “good” bacteria strain Bifidobacterium may reduce levels of phytate and
phytic acid, compounds which are thought to be behind fiber’s impairment of mineral
absorption.
Gene Increases Susceptibility to
Post-Traumatic Stress, Yale Researchers Find
A gene variant makes people who experienced trauma as children or adults more susceptible
to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Yale researchers have found. The study,
published in the November edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry, sheds light on
how environmental forces and genes interact to make some people more prone to psychiatric
diseases. “This study helps us understand how genetic factors can contribute to
vulnerability in different people,” said Joel Gelernter, senior author of the study
and professor of psychiatry, genetics and neurobiology at the Yale School of Medicine.
Between 40 to 70 percent of Americans have experienced a traumatic event, yet only 8
percent develop PTSD. The Yale team studied more than 1,200 people who had reported
experiencing childhood adversity and/or traumatic events as adults. The type of childhood
adversity included physical and sexual abuse or neglect. Traumatic events in adulthood
included combat, sexual assault and natural disasters. Researchers found the risk of PTSD
significantly increased if adversity and trauma were experienced both as a child and an
adult.
Gene therapy repairs injured human
donor lungs for the first time
For the first time, scientists in the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University
Health Network have successfully used gene therapy to repair injured human donor lungs,
making them potentially suitable for transplantation into patients. This technique could
significantly expand the number of donor lungs by using organs that are currently
discarded, and improve outcomes after transplantation.In their pioneering work, a team of
researchers led by Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Senior Scientist at the McEwen Centre for
Regenerative Medicine, University Health Network and Director of the Lung Transplant
Program, University Health Network developed a technique of ex vivo gene delivery to donor
lungs, before they are implanted into a recipient’s body. The technique was shown to
be simple and effective in improving lung function.
Genes and environment may interact
to influence risk for post-traumatic stress disorder
Individuals who experience both childhood adversity and traumatic events in adulthood
appear more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than those exposed to only
one of these types of incidents, according to a report in the November issue of Archives
of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, the risk was
further increased in individuals with a certain genetic mutation. Although 40 percent to
70 percent of Americans have experienced traumatic events, only about 8 percent develop
PTSD during their lifetimes, according to background information in the article. PTSD is a
complex anxiety disorder that involves re-experiencing, avoidance and increased arousal
following exposure to a life-threatening event. "In addition to the obvious effect of
environmental factors, PTSD has a heritable component," the authors write. Recent
studies estimate that genetic factors account for approximately 30 percent of the
difference in PTSD symptoms. Pingxing Xie, B.S., of Yale University School of Medicine,
New Haven, Conn., and VA Connecticut Healthcare Center, West Haven, and colleagues studied
1,252 individuals who had experienced childhood adversity (including abuse or neglect),
adult trauma (such as combat, sexual assault or a natural disaster) or both. Participants
age 17 to 79 (average age 38.9) were interviewed and assessed for a variety of psychiatric
and substance use disorders. DNA was extracted and used to differentiate between versions
of a particular polymorphism or gene mutation—known as the 5-HTTLPR
genotype—previously found to be associated with emotional response after stressful
life events. About one-fifth of the participants (229, or 18.3 percent) met criteria for
PTSD. A total of 552 of the 1,252 participants (44.1 percent) experienced both childhood
adversity and traumatic events in adulthood. These individuals were more likely to have a
lifetime diagnosis of PTSD than were those who experienced trauma in only one life stage
(29 percent vs. 9.9 percent).
Genes may be important in back,
neck pain
A person's genetic makeup may play an important role in the odds of suffering neck or back
pain, new research suggests.
Genetic links to fungal infection
risk identified
Two genetic mutations that may put individuals at increased risk of fungal infections have
been identified by scientists from UCL and Radboud University, increasing understanding
about the genetic basis of these infections and potentially aiding the development of new
treatments. The two separate studies, published today in the New England Journal of
Medicine, mark a significant step in the understanding of genetic susceptibility to fungal
diseases. The findings have implications for people suffering from chronic mucocutaneous
candidiasis (CMC), as well as more common infections like vaginal candidosis (thrush). The
UCL-led research focused on patients from multiple generations of a large family who had
suffered from serious recurrent fungal infections that proved lethal in some of those
affected. DNA sequencing and genetic mapping techniques enabled the researchers to
identify that this family had a recurrent mutation in a gene called CARD9. The team from
Radboud University in the Netherlands discovered that a mutation in the gene Dectin-1 is
associated with increased susceptibility to vaginal infections by fungi (primarily of the
genus Candida). When these two genes are working correctly, Dectin-1 senses the presence
of fungi and prompts the immune cells to send signals that result in CARD9 setting off a
molecular response in the immune system to protect against these microorganisms. If
Dectin-1 or CARD9 are mutated or missing, the immune system struggles to control Candida
and may allow local or even systemic (affecting the entire body) infections to develop.
Great white sharks 'hang out'
together
Great white sharks, previously thought to be solitary hunters scouring the seas for prey,
may also have a sociable side.
Green tea fights blood and liver
cancer, as well as pneumonia
Three new studies by Japanese scientists add even more evidence to what already is an
astounding mountain of data showing green tea protects and heals the human body. All of
the research is based on findings from the huge Ohsaki National Health Insurance Cohort
Study in Japan which involved 41,761 Japanese adults between 40 and 79 years of age. None
of the research subjects had a history of cancer when the study started and their diets,
along with other lifestyle factors and any health problems they developed, were followed
for about ten years.
Greenland is warming up
Greenland is warming faster than the computer models predicted, and that is a worry.”
The Arctic has warmed at three times the rate of the rest of the world in the past 100
years, and temperatures continue to rise.
Guzzling food makes you fat
Eating quickly makes you put on weight because your stomach does not have time to tell
your brain it is full, scientists find.
Happy solar-cell scientists
A series of joint sub-projects and work-packages has enabled the scientists to develop a
new, less expensive grade of raw material for solar cells. And the best news is that the
new modules are just as efficient as current solar cells. SINTEF has coordinated this
major programme that rejoices in the long name: “Development of solar-grade silicon
feedstock for crystalline wafers and cells by purification and crystallisation”,
which has been simplified to “FoXy”. Together with ten other participants from
various European nations, the scientists have been developing a “good enough”
grade of silicon for solar cell production. And there has been no lack of results: a
series of joint sub-projects and work-packages has enabled the scientists to develop a
new, less expensive grade of raw material for solar cells. And the best news is that the
new modules are just as efficient as current solar cells.
Harvesting energy from nature's
motions
By taking advantage of the vagaries of the natural world, Duke University engineers have
developed a novel approach that they believe can more efficiently harvest electricity from
the motions of everyday life. Energy harvesting is the process of converting one form of
energy, such as motion, into another form of energy, in this case electricity. Strategies
range from the development of massive wind farms to produce large amounts of electricity
to using the vibrations of walking to power small electronic devices. Although motion is
an abundant source of energy, only limited success has been achieved because the devices
used only perform well over a narrow band of frequencies. These so-called
"linear" devices can work well, for example, if the character of the motion is
fairly constant, such as the cadence of a person walking. However, as researchers point
out, the pace of someone walking, as with all environmental sources, changes over time and
can vary widely. "The ideal device would be one that could convert a range of
vibrations instead of just a narrow band," said Samuel Stanton, graduate student in
Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, working in the laboratory of Brian Mann, assistant
professor of mechanical engineering and materials sciences. The team, which included
undergraduate Clark McGehee, published the results of their latest experiments early
online in Applied Physics Letters. "Nature doesn't work in a single frequency, so we
wanted to come up with a device that would work over a broad range of frequencies,"
Stanton said. "By using magnets to 'tune' the bandwidth of the experimental device,
we were able verify in the lab that this new non-linear approach can outperform
conventional linear devices." Although the device they constructed looks deceptively
simple, it was able to prove the team's theories on a small scale. It is basically a small
cantilever, several inches long and a quarter inch wide, with an end magnet that interacts
with nearby magnets. The cantilever base itself is made of a piezoelectric material, which
has the unique property of releasing electrical voltage when it is strained.
Hearing aid guide cuts through the
noise
high prices and a confusing array of products and providers, helps explain why most of the
USA's 35 million adults and children with hearing loss don't have hearing aids.
Heavy metals accumulate more in
some mushrooms than in others
A research team from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) has analysed the presence
of heavy metals in 12 species of mushroom collected from non-contaminated natural areas,
and has found that the levels vary depending on the type of mushroom. The results of the
study, which appears this month in the journal Biometals, show that the largest quantities
of lead and neodymium are found in chanterelles. "The aim was to find out if there is
a connection between the concentrations of specific heavy metals detected in the
mushrooms, based on three factors: the type of substrate, the study area and the species
of mushroom. The third was the determining factor", explains Juan Antonio Campos,
principal author of the study and researcher at the Department of Crop Production and
Agricultural Technology at UCLM. The researchers have analysed the presence of lead (Pb),
neodymium (Nd), thorium (Th) and uranium (U) in a hundred samples of 12 different species
of common mushroom, both edible and non-edible, collected from non-contaminated zones in
the Ciudad Real province. They were collected from wooded areas comprising Holm oak,
Kermes oak, Pyrenean oak, Pine and Cistus. The results of the study, published this month
in the journal Biometals, reveal that there are 'considerable' quantities of the four
metals in all the species examined, as well as significant differences in the capacity for
accumulation of these elements depending on the species. The analysis of these heavy
metals – which can be toxic to humans – was carried out using X-ray fluorescence
spectometry, a technique that enables a sample's composition to be detected and quantified
using X-rays. The highest levels of neodymium (7.1 micrograms/gram) and lead (4.86 µg/g)
were found in the chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), a mushroom widely used in European
cuisine. This mushroom grows in the shadow of Holm oaks, Cork oaks and oaks, and is
ectomycorrhizal (it clings to the external roots of plants to exchange nutrients), thereby
it has direct contact with the mineral particles of the soil.
Help your kidneys - Pass on salt
and diet soda
Individuals who consume a diet high in sodium or artificially sweetened drinks are more
likely to experience a decline in kidney function, according to two papers being presented
at the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting in San Diego, California. Julie Lin
MD, MPH, FASN and Gary Curhan, MD, ScD, FASN of Brigham and Women's Hospital studied more
than 3,000 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study to identify the impact of
sodium and sweetened drinks on kidney function. "There are currently limited data on
the role of diet in kidney disease," said Dr. Lin. "While more study is needed,
our research suggests that higher sodium and artificially sweetened soda intake are
associated with greater rate of decline in kidney function." The first study,
"Associations of Diet with Kidney Function Decline," examined the influence of
individual dietary nutrients on kidney function decline over 11 years in more than 3,000
women participants of the Nurses' Health Study. The authors found that "in women with
well-preserved kidney function, higher dietary sodium intake was associated with greater
kidney function decline, which is consistent with experimental animal data that high
sodium intake promotes progressive kidney decline."
Hepatitis B does not increase risk
for pancreatic cancer
A Henry Ford Hospital study found that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for
pancreatic cancer – and that only age is a contributing factor. The results
contradict a previous study in 2008 that suggested a link between pancreatic cancer and
previous hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver caused by a
viral infection. Study results will be presented at the American Association for the Study
of Liver Diseases' Annual Meeting in Boston. Using data from Henry Ford Health System,
physicians looked at more than 74,000 patients who were tested for hepatitis B between
1995 and 2008. In the overall analysis, only age was found to be a significant predictor
for pancreatic cancer. "We looked at the incidence of pancreatic cancer among
hepatitis B-infected patients over a 13-year period and found that we could not confirm a
higher risk for those with a previous exposure to hepatitis B, as a prior study
suggested," says Jeffrey Tang, M.D., gastroenterologist at Henry Ford Hospital and
lead author of the study. "When other factors are considered – such as age,
race, sex, HIV status, and the presence of diabetes – only older age and presence of
diabetes proved significant, whereas prior exposure to hepatitis B was no longer an
important variable."
High fiber intake may interfere
with ovulation
Women who get the recommended amount of fiber in their diets may have lower estrogen
levels and ovulate less often than women who eat less fiber, a new study suggests.
Hormone that affects finger length
key to social behavior
The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine
characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal
androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens,
such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second
finger. Scientists used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the
hormone and compared this data with social behaviour in primate groups. The team found
that Old World monkeys, such as baboons and rhesus macaques, have a longer fourth finger
in comparison to the second finger, which suggests that they have been exposed to high
levels of prenatal androgens. These species tend to be highly competitive and promiscuous,
which suggests that exposure to a lot of androgens before birth could be linked to the
expression of this behaviour. Other species, such as gibbons and many New World species,
have digit ratios that suggest low levels of prenatal androgen exposure. These species
were monogamous and less competitive than Old World monkeys.
How Much Sunshine Does it Take to
Make Enough Vitamin D?
Vitamin D deficiency is quite common, and a growing list of diseases and conditions are
being linked with it. Regular sun exposure, without sunscreen, causes your skin to produce
vitamin D naturally. But how much sun do you need?
How saturated fatty acids 'anger'
the immune system
Researchers have new evidence to explain how saturated fatty acids, which soar in those
who are obese, can lead the immune system to respond in ways that add up to chronic,
low-grade inflammation. The new results could lead to treatments designed to curb that
inflammatory state, and the insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes that come with it. One
key, according to the report in the November Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, is
an immune receptor (called Toll-like receptor 4 or Tlr4) at the surface of blood cells,
including a particularly "angry" class of macrophages known to pump out toxic
molecules and spur inflammation. It now appears that fatty acids may in essence
"hijack" those immune cells via Tlr4. "Tlr4 is out there to sense bacterial
products, but one of those looks a lot like fatty acids," said the study's senior
author Jerrold Olefsky of the University of California, San Diego. "They don't know
it's not bacteria." That bacterial product is something called lipopolysaccharide
(LPS) found in bacterial membranes. Olefsky notes, however, that they have not yet fully
demonstrated that fatty acids bind Tlr4 directly. Scientists had suspected that Tlrs might
be the "sensors" linking obesity to inflammation. Indeed, earlier studies had
supported that notion. In the new study, the researchers show that this interaction is
particularly important in the bloodstream. Mice lacking Tlr4 only in blood cells grew
obese when they were fed a high-fat diet, but they were largely spared the metabolic
consequences of their obesity. The mice were fat, but metabolically they continued to
"look pretty normal," Olefsky said.
Humans, pets may pass MRSA to each
other
New studies have found that humans can pass MRSA -- methicillin-resistant staphylococcus
aureus -- along to animals, including their pets.
Hybrid composite for root canal
treatment
Unrelenting toothache means a visit to the dentist is inevitable, and if the tooth decay
is really bad root canal treatment is often the only option. The dentist first removes the
nerve completely and then closes the ensuing canal with a filler. This must be airtight to
prevent bacteria from entering and causing renewed inflammation. On the other hand, the
material must also be removable. If the natural crown is severely damaged, the dentist
will anchor a root post in the previously filled canal using dental cement. The post
provides an anchor for the composite material used to rebuild the remaining part of the
tooth, the core, which serves as the base for the core build-up material and the
prosthetik treatment e.g. a crown. In root canal procedures, therefore, various materials
are combined, each fulfilling different requirements. The problem is that the materials
are not always compatible with each other or do not bond properly with the hard dental
tissue. As a result, the post may break, the core and the crown may not adhere to the post
properly, and the expensive crown may need replacing. Such faults are not rare and
generally occur in the single-digit percent range. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute
for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg working in collaboration with their research
partners at VOCO GmbH have now developed a material that can be used for all the
components used in root canal treatment. "The basis of this material is provided by
ORMOCER®s," explains Dr. Herbert Wolter, group manager at the ISC. "We have
combined these ORMOCER®s with various nano- and microparticles to achieve the highly
diverse properties needed." Materials used in filling the root canal, for instance,
should not shrink as they harden, should form an airtight bond with the dental material
and be visible in x-rays. The material used to rebuild the tooth, on the other hand,
should have the same properties as the tooth itself. "Hybrid materials are well
suited to these requirements. For instance, they only shrink by about 1.3 percent as they
harden, while standard materials generally shrink by 2 to 4 percent. ORMOCER®s can also
be adapted to adhere to the different parts of the tooth," says Wolter. VOCO GmbH is
already producing dental preparations and product development is making good progress.
Market launch could therefore be just a few years away.
Hybrid molecules show promise for
exploring, treating Alzheimer's
One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like snippets called
amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell
death, leading to the disease's devastating symptoms of memory loss and other mental
difficulties.In order to answer that key question and develop new approaches to preventing
the damage, scientists must first understand how amyloid-beta forms the telltale clumps.
University of Michigan researchers have developed new molecular tools that can be used to
investigate the process. The molecules also hold promise in Alzheimer's disease treatment.
The research, led by assistant professor Mi Hee Lim, was published online this week in the
Journal of the American Chemical Society. Though the exact mechanism for amyloid-beta
clump formation isn't known, scientists do know that copper and zinc ions are somehow
involved, not only in the aggregation process, but apparently also in the resulting
injury. Copper, in particular, has been implicated in generating reactive oxygen species,
which can cause cell damage. One way of studying the role of metals in the process is by
sopping up the metal ions with molecules called chelators and then seeing what happens
when the metal ions are out of the picture. When other scientists have done this they've
found that chelators, by removing metals, hamper both amyloid beta clumping and the
production of those harmful reactive oxygen species, suggesting that chelators could be
useful in treating Alzheimer's disease. However, most known chelators can't cross the
blood-brain barrier, the barricade of cells that separates brain tissue from circulating
blood, protecting the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream. What's more, most
chelators aren't precise enough to target only the metal ions in amyloid-beta; they're
just as likely to grab and disable metals performing vital roles in other biological
systems. Lim and coworkers used a new strategy to develop "bi-functional" small
molecules that not only grab metal ions, but also interact with amyloid-beta.
Hydrogen Peroxide’s Link to
Living Cells
If a circadian rhythm is like an orchestra - the united expression of the rhythms of
millions of cells - a common chemical may serve as the conductor, or at least as the
baton. The chemical is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the active ingredient in color safe
bleach. Produced in all animal cells, hydrogen peroxide may act as a signal for the active
and resting phases of living things, new research by USC biologists suggests. A study
published in the journal PLoS ONE shows that hydrogen peroxide given to fruit flies has
dramatic effects on their daily rhythms and activity levels. “H2O2 might be
functioning as a systemic signal by which rhythms are regulated within cells and between
cells,” said lead author John Tower, associate professor in molecular and
computational biology at USC College.
Hypertension, inflammation common
in offspring of Alzheimer's disease patients
High blood pressure, evidence of arterial disease and markers of inflammation in the blood
in middle age appear more common in individuals whose parents have Alzheimer's disease
than in individuals without a parental history of the condition, according to a report in
the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Previous twin studies estimate that as much as 60 percent of the risk for Alzheimer's
disease is under genetic control, according to background information in the article.
Other research has identified several vascular and inflammatory risk factors in midlife
that may be associated with the later transition into cognitive decline related to
Alzheimer's disease. Eric van Exel, M.D., Ph.D., of VU University Medical Center,
Amsterdam, and colleagues compared some of these vascular and inflammatory factors, such
as high blood pressure and levels of pro-inflammatory proteins known as cytokines in the
blood, between 206 offspring of 92 families with a history of Alzheimer's disease and 200
offspring of 97 families without a parental history. Researchers measured blood pressure;
obtained blood samples to assess genetic characteristics and levels of cholesterol, along
with cytokines and other inflammation-related substances; and collected sociodemographic
characteristics, medical history and information about diet, exercise and stress levels.
More individuals whose parents had Alzheimer's disease carried the APOE ?4 gene, known to
be associated with the condition, than did those with no family history (47 percent vs. 21
percent). In addition, those with a family history had higher systolic (top number) and
diastolic (bottom number) blood pressures, a lower ankle brachial index (ratio of ankle to
arm systolic blood pressure, a sign of artery disease) and higher levels of several
different pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Immune therapy can protect against
or treat later lymphoma
Specially developed immune system cells that target the common Epstein-Barr virus can
protect immune-suppressed bone marrow transplant recipients against lymph system disease
and cancers that arise from the viral infection, said a group of researchers led by those
from Baylor College of Medicine, The Methodist Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital.
"Therapy with EBV-specific CTLs (cytotoxic lymphocytes) was effective for these
patients who were severely immune-compromised, as the cells successfully reached the
tumor, multiplied and were able to kill tumor cells" said Dr. Helen Heslop, lead
author of the study and professor of pediatrics and medicine and a member of the Center
for Cell and Gene therapy at BCM, The Methodist Hospital and Texas Children's. The cell
remained in the body for up to nine years, providing long-term protection. Patients who
undergo the transplants are often immune-suppressed. Because most people have been
infected with Epstein-Barr virus, the lack of immune protection makes their lymph system
vulnerable to adverse effects of the virus, especially lymphomas that can be traced
directly back to the infection. In this study, 114 patients who had received hematopoietic
or blood-related stem cell transplants from an unrelated donor or a family member whose
bone marrow was not a perfect match also received infusions of immune components called
T-cells that were design to target Epstein-Barr virus-infected cells. The treatment was
preventive in 101 patients, none of whom developed lymphomas associated with Epstein-Barr
virus infection. Eleven of 13 patients who had this disease or symptoms of it had
sustained remissions. Because the cells were marked, researchers determined that the
special cells remained in the body for as long as nine years. The cost of the therapy,
which spares normal cells, was estimated at just over $6,000, which compares favorably to
other treatments for the disorder.
Immune-Boosting Powers of Curcumin
Are Pinpointed
Using solid-state NMR spectroscopy, Ramamoorthy and his co-workers report that molecules
of curcumin insert themselves into cell membranes and make the membranes more stable and
orderly.
Immunotherapy demonstrates
long-term success in treating lymphoma
Targeted immunotherapy has been an attractive new therapeutic area for a number of cancers
because it has the potential to destroy tumor cells without damaging surrounding normal
tissue. New study results demonstrate high success rates using specialized white blood
cells to prevent or treat lymphoma associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV-lymphoma)
in patients who have received a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). This study was
pre-published online today in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of
Hematology. Lymphoma is a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes that are largely
responsible for maintaining the body's immunity, and EBV is one of the most common human
viruses that can have a long-lasting impact on the body's immune system.
Immune-compromised patients who receive HSCT, especially from mismatched donors or matched
but unrelated donors, may be at higher risk of developing EBV-lymphoma than other
patients. Previous studies have suggested that EBV-lymphoma occurs most often in the first
few months post-transplant. The researchers hypothesized that aggressive EBV-lymphomas may
be responsive to control or eradication with EBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)
treatment. (CTLs are highly specialized white blood cells that build the body's defenses
against disease.) To test their theory, the team infused EBV-specific CTL lines into two
groups of patients: those who were undergoing HSCT and were at high risk of developing
EBV-lymphoma, and patients who had already developed lymphoma. The study reported that CTL
treatment successfully prevented the development of EBV-lymphoma in all 101 patients in
the at-risk group who received the therapy prophylactically and achieved sustained
complete remission in 11 of the 13 patients (85 percent) treated therapeutically (those
who already had the disease). "Therapy with EBV-specific CTLs was effective for these
severely immunocompromised patients. The CTLs successfully reached tumors, multiplied, and
were able to kill the tumor cells," said lead study author Helen Heslop, MD, of the
Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, The Methodist Hospital,
and Texas Children's Hospital.
Impact Monitoring of the National
Scale Up of Zinc Treatment for Childhood Diarrhea in Bangladesh
Zinc treatment of childhood diarrhea has the potential to save 400,000 under-five lives
per year in lesser developed countries. In 2004 the World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF
revised their clinical management of childhood diarrhea guidelines to include zinc. The
aim of this study was to monitor the impact of the first national campaign to scale up
zinc treatment of childhood diarrhea in Bangladesh.
Inhibitor of heat shock protein is
a potential anticancer drug, Penn study finds
Like yoga for office drones, cells do have coping strategies for stress. Heat, lack of
nutrients, oxygen radicals – all can wreak havoc on the delicate internal components
of a cell, potentially damaging it beyond repair. Proteins called HSPs (heat shock
proteins) allow cells to survive stress-induced damage. Scientists have long studied how
HSPs work in order to harness their therapeutic potential. Donna George, PhD, Associate
Professor of Genetics, and Julie Leu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Genetics, both at the
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in collaboration with the lab of Maureen
Murphy, PhD at Fox Chase Cancer Center, identified a small molecule that inhibits the heat
shock protein HSP70. They also showed that the HSP inhibitor could stop tumor formation
and significantly extend survival of mice. They describe their findings in this month's
issue of Molecular Cell. HSP70 is an intracellular quality control officer, refolding
misfolded proteins and preventing protein aggregation, which among other disorders, is
associated with neurodegenerative diseases. HSP70 also ferries proteins to their proper
intracellular locations. Tumor cells, which face an abundance of cellular stresses,
typically overexpress HSP70, making it a potentially interesting anticancer target. The
cancer microenvironment exposes malignant cells to a variety of stressful conditions that
promote protein misfolding. HSP70 helps cancer cells deal with this stress. Unlike normal
cells, which typically express little, if any, of HSP70, cancer cells contain high levels
of this protein all of the time. Indeed, HSP70 has been termed a cancer-critical survival
factor, since cancer cells probably require the actions of this protein to survive the
protein-altering adverse conditions. The inhibitor, called PES, interferes with the HSP70
activities that the cancer cell needs to survive, so by targeting HSP70, one can target
the cancer cell. The investigators showed that PES interacts with HSP70 by blocking its
stress-relieving functions. It also induces HSP70-dependent cell death by disrupting the
cell's ability to remove damaged components. Paradoxically for a compound first identified
for blocking the cell-death pathway of apoptosis, PES does kill cells, but by a different
mechanism.
Interactions with aerosols boost
warming potential of some gases
For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances --
notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles -- that affect Earth's climate. And they've
been aided by ever more sophisticated computer models that make estimating the relative
impact of each type of pollutant more reliable. Yet the complexity of nature -- and the
models used to quantify it -- continues to serve up surprises. The most recent? Certain
gases that cause warming are so closely linked with the production of aerosols that the
emissions of one type of pollutant can indirectly affect the quantity of the other. And
for two key gases that cause warming, these so-called "gas-aerosol interactions"
can amplify their impact. "We've known for years that methane and carbon monoxide
have a warming effect," said Drew Shindell, a climate scientist at the NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York and lead author of a study published this
week in Science. "But our new findings suggest these gases have a significantly more
powerful warming impact than previously thought."
Intervals between lung cancer
diagnosis and treatment displays a health care disparity
Research published in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology has
found that intervals between lung cancer suspicion, diagnosis and treatment may be
attributed to health care system discrepancies. To gain better insight on this topic,
researchers studied the timing of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment a t U.S. medical
center providing care to a diverse patient population within two different hospital
systems. David E. Gerber, MD of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and
his team of researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 482 patients diagnosed with
non-small cell lung cancer among a diverse population. Researchers learned that health
care system factors such as hospital type (public vs. private), insurance type, age and
race play a significant role in the length of time between lung cancer diagnosis and
treatment. Patients treated at the public hospital were more likely to have advanced stage
lung cancer than those patients in the private hospital (59% stage III, as opposed to
37%). Also, the makeup of the patient population in public and private hospitals varies
significantly in terms of age, race and socioeconomic status. "This study
demonstrates that in a contemporary U.S. health care system, intervals among suspicion,
diagnosis and treatment vary widely and are predominantly associated with system variables
such as insurance and hospital type," says Dr. Gerber. "An organized and timely
approach to subsequent diagnostic and therapeutic measures may benefit these individuals
and reduce this health care disparity."
Is Big Pharma Choosing Patients
over Patents?
When pipelines have weakened, companies have developed new formulations or delivery
methods to extend patent protection for their established drugs.
Is running marathons damaging your
health?
Research demonstrates an interesting correlation between inflammation and artrial
fibrillation in chronic endurance training and racing.
Is the disorder that causes
dementia hereditary?
New research shows that a rare brain disorder that causes early dementia is highly
hereditary. The study is published in the November 3, 2009, issue of Neurology®, the
medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.The brain disorder, called
frontotemporal dementia, is formerly known as Pick's disease and destroys parts of the
brain, leading to dementia, including problems with language or changes in behavior and
personality. The disease often affects people under the age of 65. "Knowing your
family's health history may be one way for people to better predict their risk of
developing dementia," said study author Jonathan Rohrer, MRCP Clinical Research
Fellow at the Dementia Research Center at the University College London in the United
Kingdom. For the study, blood was drawn from 225 people who were diagnosed with
frontotemporal dementia. The people were asked about family history of dementia and given
a score of one through four. A score of one represents a person who had at least three
relatives with dementia and an autosomal dominant inheritance, meaning that an affected
person has one mutant gene and one normal gene and has a 50-percent chance of passing the
mutant gene and therefore the disorder on to their offspring. A score of four represents a
person with no family history of dementia. The study found that nearly 42 percent of
participants scored between a one and a 3.5, meaning they had some family history of
dementia. However, only 10 percent had an autosomal dominant gene history.
It's a wonderful, mixed-up world
There are now more mixed-race children than ever before - and that is something for us all
to celebate, says the scientist Aarathi Prasad.
Java and nighttime jobs don't mix
Night-shift workers should avoid drinking coffee if they wish to improve their sleep,
according to research published in the journal Sleep Medicine. A new study led by Julie
Carrier, a Université de Montréal psychology professor and a researcher at the
affiliated Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur Sleep Disorders Centre, has found the main
byproduct of coffee, caffeine, interferes with sleep and this side-effect worsens as
people age. "Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant to counteract sleepiness, yet
it has detrimental effects on the sleep of night-shift workers who must slumber during the
day, just as their biological clock sends a strong wake-up signal," says Carrier.
"The older you get, the more affected your sleep will be by coffee. "
Twenty-four men and women participated in the study: one group was aged 20 to 30, while a
second group was aged 45 to 60. Everyone spent two sleepless nights in lab rooms before
being allowed to sleep. "We all know someone who claims to sleep like a baby after
drinking an espresso. Although they may not notice it, their sleep will not be as deep and
will likely be more perturbed," says Professor Carrier. Both participant groups had
to take a pill three hours before sleeping; either 200 milligrams of caffeine or a
lactose-based placebo. All subjects who consumed caffeine pills had their sleep affected,
especially older participants who slept 50 percent less than usual. In both age groups,
caffeine decreased sleep efficiency, sleep duration, slow-wave sleep (SWS) and REM sleep.
Joseph Moshe (MOSSAD
Microbiologist) - “Swine flu vaccine is bioweapon”
Professor Moshe had called into a live radio show by Dr. A. True Ott, broadcast on
Republic Broadcasting claiming to be a microbiologist who wanted to supply evidence to a
States Attorney regarding tainted H1N1 Swine flu vaccines being produced by Baxter
BioPharma Solutions.
Journalist's Vaccine Article Draws
Hate Mail
Journalist Amy Wallace's article in the November issue of Wired Magazine about the
passionate, and sometimes angry, debate over whether vaccines cause autism drew some
vitriolic response.
Journalists have problems matching
practice with ideals
Fierce competition forces journalists to deliver attention-grabbing news and articles. But
this increased focus on the audience sometimes clashes with journalistic ideals, according
to a study at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The ambition to please the audience
requires that the journalist knows what the audience wants. 'Journalists generally feel it
is important to respond to what the audience wants, but at the same time they often don't
really know what this is,' says Ulrika Andersson, doctoral student at the Department of
Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Gothenburg and author of the thesis
'Journalister och deras publik. Förhållningssätt bland svenska journalister'.
Kellogg's Immunity Claims Draw Fire
Boxes of Krispies Cereals Say They Help Boost Kids' Immune Systems, but Critics Challenge
Assertion
Lack of GMO information for
processed syrup
Are consumers ready for this? Japan imports and makes corn syrup (HFCS) which could be
genetically modified.
Lead-mining - the ugly truth about
Mount Isa
In the boom town next to Australia's biggest lead mine, mothers fear their children are
being poisoned, reports Kathy Marks from Queensland
Lessons from flu seasons past
Pregnant women who catch the flu are at serious risk for flu-related complications,
including death, and that risk far outweighs the risk of possible side effects from
injectable vaccines containing killed virus, according to an extensive review of published
research and data from previous flu seasons. The review, a collaboration among scientists
from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Emory University and Cincinnati Children's
Hospital, and published online Oct. 22 in the American Journal of Obstetrics &
Gynecology, found substantial and persistent evidence of high complication risk among
pregnant women -- both healthy ones and those with underlying medical conditions --
infected with the flu virus, while confirming vaccine safety. The findings, researchers
say, solidify existing CDC recommendations that make pregnant women the highest-priority
group to receive both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. "The lessons learned from
flu outbreaks in the distant and not-too-distant past are clear and so are the
messages," says lead investigator Pranita Tamma, M.D., an infectious disease
specialist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "If you are an expectant mother,
get vaccinated. If you are a physician caring for pregnant women, urge your patients to
get vaccinated." Because even healthy pregnant women end up in the hospital with
preventable flu complications -- some devastating and some fatal -- at a rate far higher
than that of other adults, and because of the proven effectiveness and overall safety
record of flu vaccines, all pregnant women should consider getting vaccinated to prevent
complications in both the expectant mother and her offspring, researchers say.
Letting the Science, Not the
Politicians, Decide About Marijuana
The federal govt. is still blocking the process that would allow the marijuana plant to be
brought to market as a prescription medicine.
Lifestyle Changes May Stave Off
Diabetes for a Decade
Sustaining modest weight loss for 10 years, or taking an anti-diabetic drug over that
time, can prevent or lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for
developing the disease, according to the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study
(DPPOS), a long-term follow-up to a landmark 2001 diabetes prevention study. Jill
Crandall, M.D.Jill Crandall, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at Albert
Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, was a principal investigator in the
follow-up study, which appears online in the current edition of the British medical
journal The Lancet. The original study?the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)?was a large,
randomized trial involving 3,234 people at high risk for developing diabetes. At the start
of the study, all were overweight or obese adults with elevated blood glucose levels.
Researchers disclosed the findings from DPP in 2001?a year earlier than scheduled?because
results were so clear. After three years, intensive lifestyle changes (modest weight loss
coupled with increased physical activity) reduced the rate for developing type 2 diabetes
by 58 percent compared with placebo. The oral diabetes drug metformin (850 milligrams
twice daily) reduced the rate of developing diabetes by 31 percent compared with placebo.
Link between childhood obesity,
hormone leptin investigated
In new cutting-edge research, scientists are looking into a possible link between
childhood obesity and the amount of an important hormone that babies have at birth.
Low cholesterol may shrink risk for
high-grade prostate cancer
Men with lower cholesterol are less likely than those with higher levels to develop
high-grade prostate cancer - an aggressive form of the disease with a poorer prognosis,
according to results of a Johns Hopkins collaborative study. In a prospective study of
more than 5,000 U.S. men, epidemiologists say they now have evidence that having lower
levels of heart-clogging fat may cut a man's risk of this form of cancer by nearly 60
percent. "For many reasons, we know that it's good to have a cholesterol level within
the normal range," says Elizabeth Platz, Sc.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-director of the cancer prevention
and control program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. "Now, we have more
evidence that among the benefits of low cholesterol may be a lower risk for potentially
deadly prostate cancers." Normal range is defined as less than 200 mg/dL (milligrams
per deciliter of blood) of total cholesterol.
Low Vitamin D Levels Explains Most
ESRD Risk in African Americans
ow levels of vitamin D may account for nearly 60 percent of the elevated risk of end-stage
renal disease (ESRD) in African Americans, according to a report in the December Journal
of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "Our study adds to previous evidence
linking vitamin D deficiency to the progression of kidney disease and the need for
dialysis," comments Michal L. Melamed, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine
(Bronx, NY). "It also explains a fair amount of the increased risk of ESRD in African
Americans." Vitamin D is obtained from sun exposure, food and food supplements.
Low vitamin D tied to heart, stroke
deaths
Low vitamin D levels in the body may be deadly, according to a new study hinting that
adults with lower, versus higher, blood levels of vitamin D may be more likely to die from
heart disease or stroke.
Lupus linked to heart disease
People with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a more than twofold increased risk of
cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.
Mandatory Disclosure of
Pharmaceutical Industry-Funded Events for Health Professionals
There are moves internationally to ensure greater disclosure of gifts and educational
events for doctors paid for by pharmaceutical manufacturers. However, there is no
agreement on appropriate standards of disclosure. In Australia, since mid-2007, there has
been mandatory reporting of details of every industry-sponsored event, including the costs
of any hospitality provided. Examination of the Australian data shows that although
expenditure at individual events is often modest, cumulative expenditure is high,
particularly in the case of medical specialists prescribing high cost
drugs—oncologists, endocrinologists, and cardiologists. Although a significant
advance, the new Australian reporting standards do not allow assessment of the educational
value of sponsored events, and do not include details of speakers or educational content
for most events. However, doctors in training are often present at these events. At
present, the standards of disclosure are inadequate and should not be tied to an arbitrary
monetary value of gifts or sponsorship. Reporting standards should require the names of
the speakers presenting, whether sponsors played a role in suggestion or selection of
speakers or the development of the content of presentations, and the nature of any direct
or indirect financial ties between the speakers and the sponsors.
Mapping nutrient distributions over
the Atlantic Ocean
Large-scale distributions of two important nutrient pools – dissolved organic
nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus (DON and DOP) have been systematically mapped
for the first time over the Atlantic Ocean in a study led by Dr Sinhue Torres-Valdes of
the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The findings have important implications
for understanding nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles and the biological carbon
pump in the Atlantic Ocean. Tiny marine plants called phytoplankton living in the sunlit
surface waters of the oceans produce organic matter through the process of photosynthesis,
thereby drawing carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere. Much of this organic matter is
recycled, but some of it – the so-called export production – sinks as 'marine
snow' to the deep ocean. This is also known as the biological carbon pump, and it helps to
significantly reduce the CO2 released by the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal),
that would otherwise accumulate in the atmosphere. In addition to light, phytoplankton
growth requires nutrients for growth. However, inorganic nutrients are in short supply in
vast areas of the oceans known as oligotrophic regions or oligotrophic oceans. This means
that phytoplankton must get the nutrients from somewhere else and therefore
"understanding the sources and distribution of nutrients is of major interest to
oceanographers," says Torres-Valdes. The new study involved scientists based at the
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and the University of Liverpool. The scientists
studied the distributions of dissolved organic nutrients during eight research cruises in
the Atlantic between spring 2000 and autumn 2005. Six of these cruises sampled north-south
transects between 50 degrees N and 50 degrees S, while the other two sampled east-west
transects at 24 and 36 degrees N. In this way, they were able systematically to cover
large tracts of the Atlantic Ocean.
Milk and manure
Regulators in Wisconsin say, for the most part, their big dairy farms are doing a good job
with manure management. They say most of their water quality problems come from smaller
farms in the state - farms that are not monitored as closely.
Mobile microscopes illuminate the
brain
The majority of our life is spent moving around a static world and we generate our
impression of the world using visual and other senses simultaneously. It is the ability to
freely explore our environment that is essential for the view we form of our local
surroundings. When we walk down the street and enter a shop to buy fruit, the street, shop
and fruit are not moving, we are. What our brain is probably doing is constantly updating
our position based on the information received from our sensory inputs such as eyes, ears,
skin as well as our motor and vestibular systems, all in real time. The problem for
researchers trying to understand how this occurs has always been how to record meaningful
signals from the brain cells that do the calculations while we are in motion. To get
around this problem researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in
Tübingen have developed a way of actually watching the activity of many brain cells
simultaneously in an animal that is free to move around the environment. By developing a
small, light-weight laser-scanning microscope, researchers were able to, for the first
time, image activity from fluorescent neurons in animals that were awake and moving
around, while tracking the exact position of the animal in space. The microscope uses a
high-powered pulsing laser and fiber optics to scan cells below the surface of the brain,
eliminating the need to insert electrodes, which are traditionally used. Because of this,
the microscope is non-invasive to the brain tissue.
Modified Crops Reveal Hidden Cost
Of Resistance
Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease
become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists.
Monash study suggests rainwater is
safe to drink
A world first study by Monash University researchers into the health of families who drink
rainwater has found that it is safe to drink. The research was led by Associate Professor
Karin Leder from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine in conjunction
with Water Quality Research Australia (previously the Cooperative Research Centre for
Water Quality and Treatment). "This is the first study of its kind. Until now, there
has been no prospective randomised study to investigate the health effects of rainwater
consumption, either in Australia or internationally," Associate Professor Leder said.
The study involved three hundred volunteer households in Adelaide that were given a filter
to treat their rainwater. Only half of the filters were real while the rest were 'sham'
filters that looked real but did not contain filters. The householders did not know
whether they had a real filter. Families recorded their health over a 12-month period,
after which time the health outcomes of the two groups were compared. "The results
showed that rates of gastroenteritis between both groups were very similar. People who
drank untreated rainwater displayed no measurable increase in illness compared to those
that consumed the filtered rainwater," Associate Professor Leder said. Adelaide was
the location chosen for the study as it the city with the highest use of rainwater tanks
in Australia.
Monsanto and Pioneer Duke It Out
Over Biotech Corn, Farmers Take the Hit
There is an old African saying "Whether elephants make love or war, the grass
suffers." The two elephants in the agricultural seed business are now making real
war, although they have been wary of each other for years. Monsanto, a relatively recent
entry into the business, has become the "dominant male" in the battle after
moving to acquire a large number of formerly independent seed companies. Pioneer, content
for years to be the premiere corn breeder in the world, has found itself suddenly
defending its turf and trying to find ways to move into the new biotech ball game.
MRSA Strain has High Death Rate
Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital have identified a strain of MRSA five times more deadly
than other known strains.
MRSA Strain Linked to High Death
Rates
A strain of MRSA that causes bloodstream infections is five times more lethal than other
strains and has shown to have some resistance to the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin
used to treat MRSA, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. The study found that 50
percent of the patients infected with the strain died within 30 days compared to 11
percent of patients infected with other MRSA strains. The average 30-day mortality rate
for MRSA bloodstream infections ranges from 10 percent to 30 percent. Researchers say the
strain USA600 contains unique characteristics that may be linked to the high mortality
rate. But they say it is unclear whether other factors like the patients' older age,
diseases or the spread of infection contributed to the poor outcomes collectively or with
other factors. The average age of patients with the USA600 strain was 64; the average age
of patients with other MRSA strains was 52. The study is being presented at the 47th
annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Oct. 29-Nov.1 in
Philadelphia.
Multivitamins may help cut allergy
risk
Health supplements do not prevent allergic illnesses in eight-year old children, a new
study in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found.
Nano-Scale Drug Delivery For
Chemotherapy
Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting
drugs. Duke University bioengineers have developed a simple and inexpensive method for
loading cancer drug payloads into nano-scale delivery vehicles and demonstrated in animal
models that this new nanoformulation can eliminate tumors after a single treatment. After
delivering the drug to the tumor, the delivery vehicle breaks down into harmless
byproducts, markedly decreasing the toxicity for the recipient. Nano-delivery systems have
become increasingly attractive to researchers because of their ability to efficiently get
into tumors. Since blood vessels supplying tumors are more porous, or leaky, than normal
vessels, the nanoformulation can more easily enter and accumulate within tumor cells. This
means that higher doses of the drug can be delivered, increasing its cancer-killing
abilities while decreasing the side effects associated with systematic chemotherapy
Nearly 80% adolescents in UAE
suffer from acne
Nearly 80 per cent adolescents in the UAE suffer from acne, which is now considered a
disease in medical circles, and some of them resort to wrong treatments based on cosmetics
products.
New methods found useful for
diagnosing myocarditis
Myocarditis is an important, and often unrecognized cause of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
Several new diagnostic methods, such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are
useful for diagnosing myocarditis, according to a study published in the November 2009
issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. "The use of MRI is particularly significant in the
diagnosis of patients with myocarditis because it is a standard, noninvasive method,"
says Leslie Cooper Jr., M.D., Mayo Clinic Division of Cardiovascular Diseases.
Endomyocardial biopsy may be used for patients with acute dilated cardiomyopathy
associated with hemodynamic compromise, those with life-threatening arrhythmia, and those
whose condition does not respond to conventional supportive therapy. "Recent
improvements in staining methods of biopsy samples have made it easier to read the slides
because the stain is more sensitive than previous methods," says Dr. Cooper.
New mothers most anxious after five
months
Anxiety experienced by first-time mothers peaks around five months and one week after they
give birth, according to new research.
New Mount Sinai research finds 9/11
responders twice as likely to have asthma
First responders who were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the 2001
World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks suffer from asthma at more than twice the rate
of the general U.S. population, according to data presented today by Mount Sinai School of
Medicine researchers at CHEST 2009, the 75th annual international scientific assembly of
the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), in San Diego. As many as eight percent of
the workers and volunteers who engaged in rescue and recovery, essential service
restoration, and clean-up efforts in the wake of 9/11 reported experiencing post-9/11
asthma attacks or episodes. Asthma is typically seen in only four percent of the
population. "Although previous WTC studies have shown significant respiratory
problems, this is the first study to directly quantify the magnitude of asthma among WTC
responders," said Hyun Kim, ScD, Instructor of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai
School of Medicine (MSSM) and lead author of the analysis. "Eight years after 9/11
the WTC Program is still observing responders affected by asthma episodes and attacks at
rates more than twice that of people not exposed to WTC dust." Researchers examined
the medical records of 20,843 WTC responders who received medical screenings from July
2002 to December 2007 as part of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine-coordinated WTC
Program. Results were compared with the U.S. National Health Survey Interviews adult
sample data for the years 2000 and 2002 to 2007. In the general population, the prevalence
of asthma episodes and/or attacks in the previous 12 months remained relatively constant
at slightly less than four percent from 2000 to 2007. In contrast, among WTC responders,
while fewer than one percent reported asthma episodes occurring during the year 2000,
eight percent reported asthma episodes in the years 2005 to 2007. In an age-adjusted
ratio, WTC responders were 2.3 times more likely to report asthma episodes/attacks that
had occurred during the previous 12 months when compared to the general population of the
United States.
New neurodegenerative disease study
findings have been published by scientists at University of Florida
"The role of microglial cells in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD)
neurodegeneration is unknown. Although several works suggest that chronic
neuroinflammation caused by activated microglia contributes to neurofibrillary
degeneration, anti-inflammatory drugs do not prevent or reverse neuronal tau
pathology," researchers in the United States report (see also Neurodegenerative
Disease).
New Remarkable Numbers Released -
Water Use in the US Has Dropped Per Person by 30 Percent Since 1975
It is possible to improve the efficiency of water use and such improvements eliminate the
need for expensive and environmentally damaging new supply.
New Research Study Targets Tinnitus
with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Chronic tinnitus, noise or ringing in the ears, is a symptom associated with many forms of
hearing loss or other health problems. There are no effective treatments for this
condition, which can become so severe that it may be difficult to hear, work, or even
sleep. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are now testing a non-invasive
treatment – transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – to target overactive areas
in the brain responsible for tinnitus. TMS was recently approved by the United States Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of depression and has been extensively tested
in Europe for tinnitus. Michael Ruckenstein, MD, Professor of Otorhinolaryngology: Head
and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will lead the
study, in conjunction with John O’Reardon, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and
Director of Penn’s Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Program. Study participants will
undergo 4 weeks (20 sessions) of TMS sessions to see if the treatment improves tinnitus.
For those who respond, there will be a 3 month extension phase (8 sessions – 4 in
month 1, 2 each in months 2 and 3).
New scientific study indicates that
eating quickly is associated with overeating
According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), eating a meal quickly, as compared to
slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full.
The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating. "Most of us
have heard that eating fast can lead to food overconsumption and obesity, and in fact some
observational studies have supported this notion," said Alexander Kokkinos, MD, PhD,
of Laiko General Hospital in Athens Greece and lead author of the study. "Our study
provides a possible explanation for the relationship between speed eating and overeating
by showing that the rate at which someone eats may impact the release of gut hormones that
signal the brain to stop eating." In the last few years, research regarding gut
hormones, such as peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), has shown that their
release after a meal acts on the brain and induces satiety and meal termination. Until
now, concentrations of appetite-regulating hormones have not been examined in the context
of different rates of eating. In this study, subjects consumed the same test meal, 300ml
of ice-cream, at different rates. Researchers took blood samples for the measurement of
glucose, insulin, plasma lipids and gut hormones before the meal and at 30 minute
intervals after the beginning of eating, until the end of the session, 210 minutes later.
Researchers found that subjects who took the full 30 minutes to finish the ice cream had
higher concentrations of PYY and GLP-1 and also tended to have a higher fullness rating.
New study finds shock-wave therapy
for unhealed fractured bones
When fractured bones fail to heal, a serious complication referred to as
"nonunion" can develop. This occurs when the process of bone healing is
interrupted or stalled. According to a new study published in the November 2009 issue of
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), certain cases involving nonunions respond
very well to shock-wave therapy. Researchers say this non-invasive treatment is equally
effective as surgery when it comes to healing the bone. "We found that extracorporeal
(external to body) shock-wave therapy was just as effective as surgery in helping to heal
and repair nonunions," said lead author of the study Angelo Cacchio, MD, a
physiatrist who conducted the study with colleagues from the Division of Orthopaedic
Surgery and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at San Salvatore
Hospital in L'Aquila, Italy. Study authors say sparse surrounding vascular tissue and
limited blood supply can lead to a nonunion and can subsequently delay or prevent healing.
This complication -- a nonunion -- often is very difficult to treat. Dr. Cacchio and his
colleagues analyzed data from 126 patients who had nonunions of the femur (thigh bone),
tibia (shinbone), ulna (forearm) or radius (forearm). Patients were randomly assigned to
one of three groups and all patient outcomes were evaluated from 2001 to 2004. The
patients in the three groups had similar demographic characteristics and similarly timed
and developed nonunions. The first two groups of patients received surgery to help repair
their fracture. The third received four shock-wave therapy sessions at weekly intervals,
with 4000 impulses per session.
New Study Shows Probiotics Reduce
Cholesterol
Probiotics seem to be all the rage these days, and for good reason! They have a number of
potential health benefits, including improving digestive health and possibly preventing
colon cancer. And now there’s one more reason to introduce probiotics to your diet: a
recent study showed that a diet combining soy and probiotics significantly reduced harmful
lipids.
New therapy gives hope for very
severe depression
Thanks to a new method there is a reason for hope for patients with very severe
depression. Physicians at the University Clinics of Bonn and Cologne have treated ten
patients with deep brain stimulation. This involved implanting electrodes in the patients'
nucleus accumbens. This centre has a key role in as the brains reward system, whose
function may be impaired in depressive people. Subsequent to this treatment, the patients'
depression improved significantly in half of the patients. All patients had suffered from
very severe depression for many years and did not respond to any other therapies. The
results of the study will be published in the journal Biological Psychiatry (doi:
10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.013). In deep brain stimulation, doctors specifically target
the impaired function of certain areas of the brain with an electric brain pacemaker. For
the purpose of this study, they implanted electrodes in what is known as the nucleus
accumbens. That is an important part of the 'reward system' which ensures that we remember
good experiences and puts us in a state of pleasant anticipation. Without a reward system
we would not forge any plans for the future as we would not be able to enjoy the fruits of
these plans. Inactivity and the inability to experience pleasure are two important signs
of depression. A total of ten patients with very severe depression participated in the
study. In all patients, symptoms did not improve despite many therapies using
psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. Overall, all participants showed signy of improvement,
in half of them symptoms of depression improved significantly. Initial effects could
sometimes be seen just after a few days. 'Thus, inter alia we observed increasing activity
of the patients,' Professor Thomas E. Schlaepfer from the Bonn Clinic of Psychiatry and
Psychotherapy explains. 'This was so successful that some of them were even able to work
again, after having been incapacitated for many years. None of our patients had ever
responded to any other therapy to a comparable extent before.'
NIST quantifies low levels of
'heart attack risk' protein
Searching for a needle in a haystack may seem futile, but it's worth it if the needle is a
hard-to-detect protein that may identify a person at high risk of a heart attack
circulating within a haystack of human serum (liquid component of blood). C-reactive
protein (CRP), a molecule produced by the liver in response to inflammation, normally
accounts for less than 1/60,000 of a person's total serum protein, or about 1 milligram
per liter (mg/L) of serum. Recent evidence suggests that a CRP level between 1 and 3 mg/L
indicates a moderate risk of cardiovascular disease while a level greater than 3 mg/L
predicts a high risk. A clinical diagnostic procedure known as the high-sensitivity CRP
(hsCRP) test has been used to detect higher-than-normal levels of the protein and warn a
patient about elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. However, there is no certified
reference material—in this case, a sample of human serum with accurately determined
amounts of the CRP for various risk levels—against which the accuracy of methods for
measuring CRP can be evaluated. The problem: normal, low-risk of cardiovascular disease
CRP levels are so low that even mass spectrometry (a very sensitive technique for
separating and identifying molecules based on mass) cannot easily quantify them. In a
recent paper in Analytical Chemistry,* NIST researchers Eric Kilpatrick and David Bunk
describe the first steps toward development of a certified reference material that can be
used to assess the accuracy of routine clinical laboratory tests for CRP. The researchers
accomplished this by isolating the minute amounts (less than 1 mg/L) of CRP circulating at
normal levels in serum prior to measurement. Using a protein isolation technique called
affinity purification, Kilpatrick and Bunk added polystyrene beads coated with anti-CRP
antibodies to normal human serum. The antibodies bind tightly to any circulating CRP,
allowing it to be easily removed from solution. The researchers then cleave the purified
protein they isolated into its component parts, known as peptides, using enzyme digestion.
The peptides are more readily measured by the mass spectrometer, resulting in a very
precise determination of the total CRP.
No pain, no gain: mastering a skill
makes us stressed in the moment, happy long term
No pain, no gain applies to happiness, too, according to new research published online
this week in the Journal of Happiness Studies. People who work hard at improving a skill
or ability, such as mastering a math problem or learning to drive, may experience stress
in the moment, but experience greater happiness on a daily basis and longer term, the
study suggests. "No pain, no gain is the rule when it comes to gaining happiness from
increasing our competence at something," said Ryan Howell, assistant professor of
psychology at San Francisco State University. "People often give up their goals
because they are stressful, but we found that there is benefit at the end of the day from
learning to do something well. And what's striking is that you don't have to reach your
goal to see the benefits to your happiness and well-being." Contrary to previous
research, the study found that people who engage in behaviors that increase competency,
for example at work, school or the gym, experience decreased happiness in the moment,
lower levels of enjoyment and higher levels of momentary stress. Despite the negative
effects felt on an hourly basis, participants reported that these same activities made
them feel happy and satisfied when they looked back on their day as a whole. This
surprising find suggests that in the process of becoming proficient at something,
individuals may need to endure temporary stress to reap the happiness benefits associated
with increased competency.
North Carolina sea levels rising 3
times faster than in previous 500 years, Penn study says
An international team of environmental scientists led by the University of Pennsylvania
has shown that sea-level rise, at least in North Carolina, is accelerating. Researchers
found 20th-century sea-level rise to be three times higher than the rate of sea-level rise
during the last 500 years. In addition, this jump appears to occur between 1879 and 1915,
a time of industrial change that may provide a direct link to human-induced climate
change. The results appear in the current issue of the journal Geology. The rate of
relative sea-level rise, or RSLR, during the 20th century was 3 to 3.3 millimeters per
year, higher than the usual rate of one per year. Furthermore, the acceleration appears
consistent with other studies from the Atlantic coast, though the magnitude of the
acceleration in North Carolina is larger than at sites farther north along the U.S. and
Canadian Atlantic coast and may be indicative of a latitudinal trend related to the
melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Understanding the timing and magnitude of this
possible acceleration in the rate of RSLR is critical for testing models of global climate
change and for providing a context for 21st-century predictions.
November is Vitamin D Awareness
Month in Canada
The Vitamin D Society is a Canadian non-profit group organized to increase awareness of
the many health conditions strongly linked to vitamin D deficiency and to encourage all
Canadians to have their vitamin D blood levels tested annually. Optimal vitamin D blood
levels are 100-150 nmol/L as measured by a calcidiol blood test.
Obesity significantly cuts odds of
successful pregnancy
Obese women are as much as 28 percent less likely to become pregnant and have a successful
pregnancy, according to research that earned a Michigan State University professor a
national award. The findings by Barbara Luke, a researcher in the MSU College of Human
Medicine's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, focused on data
of nearly 50,000 women using assisted reproductive technology. Luke's findings, which also
can be applied to women not using assisted technology, showed women who are simply
overweight have a 14 percent less chance of a successful pregnancy. "The results are
not surprising; obesity is a state of inflammation and is not a good environment for
conception or fetal development," Luke said. "The key message is to lose weight,
prior to conception, and focus on pre-conception health issues.
Obesity significantly increases
side effects of stereotactic body radiation therapy in lung cancer patients
Obesity, not the amount of radiation given, is the greatest factor in whether early-stage
lung cancer patients develop chest wall pain after receiving stereotactic body radiation
therapy to the chest wall, with obese patients being more than twice as likely to develop
chronic pain compared to those who have less body weight, according to a first-of-its-kind
study presented Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American
Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Researchers studied other factors associated with
obesity, such as diabetes, to find out why obesity in patients increased chest wall pain.
Findings show that obese patients who are diabetic are over three times more likely to
develop chest wall pain after receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy to the chest
wall, compared to patients who do not have diabetes.
On the Track of DNA Methylation -
An Interview with Adrian Bird
Long before the word “epigenome” was coined, Bird began mapping the distribution
of DNA methylation (occurring at the cytosine of CpG dinucleotides) in the genomes of a
variety of species. His work emerged just as agarose gels, restriction enzymes, and
Southern blots were being developed. Bird later spawned the idea of CpG islands, pockets
of DNA rich in unmethylated CpGs and frequently found in conjunction with the promoter
regions of mammalian genes. Bird's observation provided a roadmap for disease gene
discovery for about 15 years, until human genome draft sequences began to emerge.
One dose of swine flu vaccine is
enough, say experts
THE United Nations health agency has issued reassurance that swine flu vaccines are safe
and only one dose is needed to protect adults and children over ten against the H1N1
strain.
Ormus - modern alchemy
In recent years, the search for the Philosopher's Stone of the alchemists has centered on
discoveries made by an Arizona rancher named David Hudson in the late 1970s. While mining
for gold on his land, he noticed some associated metallic minerals that exhibited very
unusual properties. Hudson spent several million dollars over the following decade
figuring out how to isolate and work with these strange materials. In 1989, he was granted
several foreign patents on these materials and methods for obtaining them. During the
early 1990s, He toured the United States giving lectures and workshops about what he had
found. The strange substances have been named ORMES (Orbitally Rearranged Monatomic
Elements), although some researchers prefer the more general term of ORMUS. ORMES are
metallic microclusters in a non-metallic state consisting of one or more atoms which
Hudson felt were in a high-spin state that endows them with unusual properties such as
superconductivity, superfluidity, supercurrent (or Josephson tunneling) and magnetic
levitation.
Pain thresholds linked to
inflammation and sleep problems in arthritis patients
Despite recent advances in anti-inflammatory therapy, many rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
patients continue to suffer from pain. Research published in BioMed Central's open access
journal, Arthritis Research & Therapy found that inflammation is associated with
heightened pain sensitivity at joint sites, whereas increased sleep problems are
associated with heightened pain sensitivity at both joint and non-joint sites. Researchers
from the Division of Rheumatology and Pain Management Center of Brigham and Women's
Hospital, and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Center of the University of Michigan Medical
School, assessed experimental pain sensitivity, disease activity, sleep problems and
psychiatric distress in 59 women with RA. The researchers used questionnaires to assess
the women's sleep problems and psychiatric distress and measured the levels of C-reactive
protein as an indicator of disease activity. They also measured pain sensitivity with
pressure pain threshold testing at joint and non-joint sites. Lower pain thresholds are
indicative of higher pain sensitivity. "Sleep problems were inversely associated with
pain threshold at all sites, suggesting a defect in central pain processing", state
the authors. This finding emphasises the need for research into the mechanisms underlying
sleep disorders and pain in RA patients, particularly given the common occurrence of
sleeping problems among these patients. This autoimmune disease, causing chronic
inflammation, affects nearly 1% of the population and sufferers often report ongoing pain
in spite of successful anti-inflammatory treatment.
Paleoecologists offer new insight
into how climate change will affect organisms
An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science written by a team of
ecologists, including Robert Booth, assistant professor of earth and environmental science
at Lehigh University, examines some of the potential problems with current prediction
methods and calls for the use of a range of approaches when predicting the impact of
climate change on organisms. According to Booth and his colleagues, one of the biggest
challenges facing ecologists today is trying to predict how climate change will impact the
distribution of organisms in the future. Combining the environmental conditions that allow
a particular species to exist with the output from climate models is a commonly used
approach to determining where these conditions will exist in the future. However,
according to the authors, there some potential problems with the correlational approach
that ecologists have traditionally used. "This traditional prediction approach on its
own is insufficient," said Booth. "It needs to be integrated with mechanistic
and dynamic ecological modeling and systematic observations of past and present patterns
and dynamics." The paper uses examples from recent paleoecological studies to
highlight how climate variability of the past has affected the distributions of tree
species, and even how events that occurred many centuries ago still shape present-day
distributions patterns. For example, the authors note that some populations of a Western
US tree species owe their existence to brief periods of favorable climatic conditions
allowing colonization in the past, such as a particularly wet interval during the 14th
century.
People with egg allergy face
vaccine dilemma
An H1N1 vaccine available in Britain for people suffering from severe egg allergies will
not be used in Canada because it has not received regulatory approval.
People with pensions sleep better
after retirement
Retirees have something else to look forward to besides playing golf -- much better sleep
-- particularly if they have decent retirement benefits and retire relatively early.
Pitt study shows linkage between
teen girls' weight and sexual behavior
A University of Pittsburgh study sheds new light on the relationship between race, body
weight and sexual behavior among adolescent girls. The results suggest that a girl's
ethnicity and her actual weight or perception of her weight may play a role in her
participation in risky sexual behaviors. The study results are published in the November
issue of Pediatrics, now available online. The study, conducted by Aletha Akers, M.D.,
M.P.H., assistant professor of gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues, further links girls at weight extremes with
an increased risk for engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors. "This study will
contribute to sexual health education prevention efforts, which can be tailored to address
how cultural norms regarding body size may influence adolescent sexual decision making.
Knowing how a girl perceives her weight may be just as important as knowing her actual
weight," noted Dr. Akers. Of the nearly 7,200 high school girls asked about their
sexual activity and risky sexual behavior as part of the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior
Surveillance survey, half reported ever having sex. Those girls who were both sexually
active and overweight, or who thought they were overweight, were less likely to use
condoms than normal-weight sexually active girls. Underweight girls also were less likely
to use condoms.
Placental precursor stem cells
require testosterone-free environment to survive
Trophoblast stem cells (TSCs), cells found in the layer of peripheral embryonic stem cells
from which the placenta is formed, are thought to exhibit "immune privilege"
that aids cell survivability and is potentially beneficial for cell and gene therapies.
Further, the survivability of TSCs has been thought to require the presence of ovarian
hormones. However, none of these assumptions has ever been verified. This study, published
in the current issue of the journal Cell Transplantation (18:7) - now freely available
on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct - has demonstrated that it is the
absence of male hormones, rather than the presence of female hormones, that allows
extended transplanted cell survivability. "Questioning whether a female hormonal
environment is one of the physiological requirements for ectopic TSC survival, we surmised
that a partially immune-privileged site other than the uterus might also allow TSCs to
survive and exert a protective action on other nearby cells, enabling the latter to
survive in locations where they normally could not," said Dr. Bert Binas, co-author
of the study. When the research team injected the livers of both male and female mice with
TSCs, the cells survived in female animal livers but did not survive in male animal
livers. "This was not unexpected, given the natural uterine environment for
TSCs," said Dr. Binas. "However, castration of the male mice abolished the sex
hormone difference and the livers of the castrated male mice provided a perfect
environment for the TSCs."The researchers concluded that the presence of male
hormones was toxic for the injected TSCs. The injected TSCs survived for three months with
little if any proliferation, regardless of their immunological compatibility, but were
dependent on a non-male hormonal environment in castrated male mice.
PMH finding may help some tonsil
cancer patients avoid chemotherapy
Clinical researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) have confirmed that patients with
oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer ("tonsil cancer") harbour a common type of
human papilloma virus (HPV16), but also that such cancers are very sensitive to radiation.
For some patients, this may mean successful treatment with radiation alone and avoiding
the side effects of chemotherapy. "This represents the power of personalized
medicine. By using a relatively simple molecular test to evaluate the tumour, we can
customize the treatment plan, produce an excellent outcome, and maintain the patient's
quality of life," says principal investigator Dr. Fei-Fei Liu, PMH radiation
oncologist, Head of the Division of Applied Molecular Oncology, Ontario Cancer Institute,
and Dr. Mariano Elia Chair in Head & Neck Cancer Research, University Health Network.
Possible origins of pancreatic
cancer revealed
MIT cancer biologists have identified a subpopulation of cells that can give rise to
pancreatic cancer. They also found that tumors can form in other, more mature pancreatic
cell types, but only when they are injured or inflamed, suggesting that pancreatic cancer
can arise from different types of cells depending on the circumstances. Why it matters -
There are few good treatment options for pancreatic cancer, which kills an estimated
35,000 Americans per year — making it the country's fourth-leading cause of cancer
death. Learning more about the origins of pancreatic cancer cells could help scientists
develop better treatments and tools for early diagnosis. "By the time pancreatic
disease is typically diagnosed, it's already very advanced and non-curable. Our new
findings can help scientists focus their drug development efforts and lead them to new
ways to detect the disease in early stages," says Sharon Friedlander, a postdoctoral
associate at MIT's David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and lead author
of a paper describing the work in the Nov. 3 issue of Cancer Cell.How they did it - The
team found that in mice, tumors originate from a subpopulation of pancreatic cells that
express a protein called pdx1. This protein plays a critical role in pancreas development
and differentiation, a process of specialization that normally occurs during embryonic
development but can also occur later in life. This suggests that under normal conditions,
pancreatic cancer may arise from a type of adult stem cell that can differentiate into
mature pancreatic cells, says Friedlander.
Postmenopausal women with higher
testosterone levels
Postmenopausal women who have higher testosterone levels may be at greater risk of heart
disease, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome compared to women with lower
testosterone levels, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine
Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). This new information
is an important step, say researchers, in understanding the role that hormones play in
women's health. "For many years, androgens like testosterone were thought to play a
significant role in men only and to be largely irrelevant in women," said Anne
Cappola, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
"It is now largely accepted that premenopausal women with polycystic ovary syndrome,
a condition in which androgens are elevated, have increased health risks. However, the
clinical relevance of testosterone in women over the age of 65 had remained uncertain
until this recent study." In this study, researchers measured levels of testosterone
in 344 women, aged 65-98 years. They found that women with the highest testosterone levels
— in the top 25 percent of this study group— were three times as likely to have
coronary heart disease compared to women with lower testosterone levels. These women were
also three times as likely to have a group of metabolic risk factors called the metabolic
syndrome compared to women with lower testosterone levels. The connection between higher
levels of testosterone and these health risks may be explained by the researcher's finding
of a greater degree of insulin resistance in women with the highest testosterone levels.
Insulin resistance is a metabolic disturbance in which the body does not use insulin
efficiently and is itself a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular
disease.
Potential Health Dangers from GM
Foods
Genetically Modified Foods may cause new diseases, antibiotic resistant disease and
nutritional problems that are normally caused by toxins, allergens and carcinogens.
Powerful pumpkins, super squash
Carotenoids, the family of yellow to red pigments responsible for the striking orange hues
of pumpkins and the familiar red color of vine-ripe tomatoes, play an important role in
human health by acting as sources of provitamin A or as protective antioxidants. Pumpkins
and squash, available in a wide range of white, yellow, and orange colors, are excellent
sources of dietary carotenoids, particularly lutein, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene.
The colors of these nutritional vegetables are determined by their genetic makeup—the
concentration and type of carotenoids they contain—which are influenced by both
genetic and environmental factors.The good news, this wide range of carotenoids in
pumpkins and squash provides fertile ground for genetic improvement. When breeders have
reliable information about carotenoid types and concentrations, they can work to improve
the vegetables' nutritional value and create new varieties of antioxidant-packed offerings
for consumers. But identifying and quantifying carotenoids hasn't been simple; scientists
traditionally use a method called "high-performance liquid chromatography", or
HPLC. HPLC is highly sensitive and reproducible, but can be expensive and time-consuming.
To determine if carotenoid content of pumpkin and squash could be accurately measured
using a less-expensive and simpler method, Rachel A. Itle and Eileen A. Kabelka from the
University of Florida's Horticultural Sciences Department designed a research study using
colorimetric analysis to correlate color space values with carotenoid content in pumpkins
and squash. The study appeared in a recent issue of HortScience. Pumpkins and squash with
white, yellow, and orange flesh color were grown at multiple locations for the study. The
flesh of each specimen was evaluated using both HPLC and colorimetric analysis. According
to the research, "strong correlations between colorimetric values and carotenoid
content were identified."
Precuneus region of human and
monkey brain is divided into 4 distinct regions
A study published this week in PNAS provides a comprehensive comparative functional
anatomy study in human and monkey brains which reveals highly similar brain networks
preserved across evolution. An international collaboration co-led by scientists at NYU
Langone Medical Center in New York City examined patterns of connectivity to show that the
precuneus, long thought to be a single structure, is actually divided into four distinct
functional regions. These areas were identified using "resting state" functional
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) – a recently emerging approach that allows
scientist to map a multitude of brain networks using only 6 minutes of data acquired while
an individual lies in the scanner at rest. The results of these brief imaging sessions
were comparable to definitive findings in monkeys examined microscopically. Located in the
posterior portion of the brain's medial wall, the precuneus has traditionally received
little attention in the neuroimaging and neuropsychological literatures. However, recent
functional neuroimaging studies have started to implicate the precuneus in a variety of
high level cognitive functions, including episodic memory, self-related processing, and
aspects of consciousness. "The findings confirm that higher order association areas
in the brain have complex functional architectures which appear to be preserved and or
expanded during the evolutionary process," said study co-leader, Michael P. Milham,
MD, PhD, the associate director of the Phyllis Greene and Randolph Cowen Institute for
Pediatric Neuroscience at the NYU Child Study Center and assistant professor of child and
adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center. "The fMRI approaches provide a
powerful tool for translational science, making comparative studies of the brain's
functional neuroanatomy studies across species possible."
Pregnant women risk early delivery
from using psychiatric medication
The odds triple for premature child delivery pregnant women with a history of depression
who used psychiatric medication, according to a new study. Researchers at the University
of Washington, University of Michigan and Michigan State University found that a
combination of medication use and depression – either before or during pregnancy
– was strongly linked to delivery before 35 weeks' gestation. Amelia Gavin, lead
author and UW assistant professor of social work, said the findings highlight the need for
carefully planned studies that can clarify associations between depression, psychiatric
medications and preterm delivery. "Women with depression face difficult decisions
regarding the benefits and risks of using psychotropic medications in pregnancy,"
Gavin said. "Therefore, a focus on disentangling medication effects and depression
effects on mother and offspring health should be a major clinical priority."
"Medication use may be an indicator of depressive symptom severity, which is a direct
or indirect contributing factor to pre-term delivery," added Kristine Siefert,
co-author and a Michigan professor of social work. Most physicians initiated preterm
deliveries after the women suffered complications, such as pre-eclampsia, poor fetal
growth or acute hemorrhage. The study examined the associations among maternal depression,
psychiatric medication use in pregnancy and preterm delivery among women in five Michigan
communities who received prenatal care at one of 52 participating clinics between
September 1998 and June 2004These women had to be at least 15 years old, with no history
of diabetes, and were 15 to 27 weeks pregnant.
Pregnant women risk early delivery
from psychiatric medication use
The odds triple for early child delivery among pregnant women with a history of depression
who used psychiatric medication, a new study showed. Researchers at the University of
Michigan, Michigan State University and University of Washington found that a combination
of medication use and depression—either before or during pregnancy—was strongly
linked to delivery before 35 weeks' gestation. "Medication use may be an indicator of
depressive symptom severity, which is a direct or indirect contributing factor to pre-term
delivery," said Kristine Siefert, the study's co-author and U-M professor of social
work. Most physicians initiated pre-term deliveries after the women suffered
complications, such as preeclampsia, poor fetal growth, or acute hemorrhage. The study
examined the associations among maternal depression, psychiatric medication use in
pregnancy and pre-term delivery among women in five Michigan communities who received
pre-natal care at one of 52 participating clinics. These women had to be at least 15 years
or older, with no history of diabetes, and were 15 to 27 weeks of pregnancy between
September 1998 and June 2004.
Preventative brain radiation for
lung cancer patients
A new study is taking a closer look at the benefits versus risks for lung cancer patients
to undergo preventative brain radiation therapy as a means to stop cancer from spreading
to the brain. Study results show that while preventative brain radiation for patients with
non-small cell lung cancer – the most common form of lung cancer – does reduce
the chance of developing brain metastases, it impacts some short-term and long-term
memory. The study also reveals that preventative brain radiation does not increase
survival and has no significant impact on quality of life, says study co-investigator
Benjamin Movsas, M.D., chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford
Hospital in Detroit. "These findings offer a more complete perspective regarding this
intervention for patients with non-small cell lung cancer," Movsas says. "We now
need to develop strategies to help shift the benefit-risk ratio for this treatment."
Dr. Movsas will present the study results Nov. 2 at the plenary session for the 51st
annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) meeting. Out of nearly 1,000
abstracts submitted, only a handful of study abstracts, including the one from Henry Ford,
were selected for the ASTRO plenary session.
Probing blood loss, fatigue in the
elderly
What are the causes of blood loss and fatigue in the elderly? If the cause is not found,
what can be done? Will iron tablets help?
Progress made on group B
streptococcus vaccine
Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the National Institutes of Health, have completed a Phase II clinical study that
indicates a vaccine to prevent Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is possible. GBS is
the most common cause of sepsis and meningitis in newborns in the United States, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It can also cause severe illness
in pregnant women, the elderly and adults with chronic illnesses. Colonization of the
genital or gastrointestinal tract is a critical risk factor for infections due to GBS. The
researchers, led by Sharon L. Hillier, Ph.D., from the Magee-Womens Research Institute at
the University of the Pittsburgh, found that the vaccine used in the study can cause a
modest but sustained reduction in genital and gastrointestinal GBS bacterial colonization.
The GBS bacterium, which is commonly found in the gut and genital tracts, can infect the
fetus during gestation and birth or after delivery. Pregnancy-related infections can lead
to serious consequences for women including stillbirth. Currently, one-third of pregnant
women in the United States test positive for asymptomatic GBS and receive antibiotics
during labor to prevent infection of the newborn. Although this antibiotic strategy is
highly effective, the broad use of antibiotics in pregnant women is of concern to public
health officials. Many women are allergic to penicillin and penicillin-type antibiotics
that are the preferred treatment, and GBS is increasingly resistant to other common
antibiotics. Dr. Hillier and her colleagues conducted a double-blind, randomized trial of
the GBS vaccine that included a total of 650 sexually active, non-pregnant women ages 18
to 40 who were GBS-negative in the vagina and rectum at the beginning of the study.
Approximately one-half of the women were in the control group and received a licensed
tetanus and diphtheria toxoids (Td) vaccine instead of the GBS vaccine. The women were
followed for 18 months after they were vaccinated and checked for GBS bacteria at regular
intervals. The goal of the study was to see whether vaccination could prevent or decrease
colonization by one of the most common subtypes of GBS bacteria: Type III.
Pumpkin rind can fight yeast
infection
Long been known for its medical properties, pumpkin also contains a powerful antifungal
protein that can effectively fight many common yeast infections.
Putting Farm Animal Protection on
the Map, One Step at a Time
Within this decade, we've gone from 0 to 7 states having anti-cruelty laws for animals in
agribusiness laws.
Radiation therapy technique
successfully treats pain in patients with advanced cancer
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), a radiation therapy procedure pioneered at the University
of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) that precisely delivers a large dose of radiation to
tumors, effectively controls pain in patients with cancer that has spread to the spine,
according to researchers from UPCI. The results of the research will be presented this
week during the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in Chicago.
The study, led by Dwight E. Heron, M.D., associate professor and vice-chairman of the
Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
compared the effectiveness of single and multi-session treatments of SRS in controlling
patients' pain. According to Dr. Heron, cancers can frequently spread to the bone and the
spine is the site most commonly involved, which can be extremely painful.
"Conventional radiation therapy is not always effective in alleviating bone pain
resulting from spread of cancer to the spine. In patients who have previously received
radiation, few options for effective treatment exist," Dr. Heron said. The study
reviewed the outcomes of 228 patients treated with SRS at UPCI and Georgetown University
Medical Center (GUMC). Patients at UPCI received a single treatment of SRS while patients
at GUMC generally received three treatment sessions.
RDH inflammation sleuth
Gingivitis and periodontitis, together with most other forms of inflammation, are largely
adaptive responses to microbial infections or, less commonly, tissue injuries. But whereas
microbial infections of the biofilm on the tooth surfaces and gingival sulcus generally
initiate these diseases, it is the variable inflammatory responses that drive the
subsequent pathological changes of bleeding on probing and increased pocket depth. In
fact, these acute and/or chronic inflammatory responses are well established, although
much less is known about the dynamics of “systemic chronic inflammatory
syndrome” or “para-inflammatory states” that characterize such diseases as
obesity, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarctions (heart attacks),
cerebro-vascular accidents (strokes), asthma, preeclampsia (preterm births), rheumatoid
arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, erectile dysfunction, malignancies, and periodontal
disease.
Reduction in glycotoxins from
heat-processing of foods reduces risk of chronic disease
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine report that cutting back on the
consumption of processed and fried foods, which are high in toxins called Advanced
Glycation End products (AGEs), can reduce inflammation and actually help restore the
body's natural defenses regardless of age or health status. These benefits are present
even without changing caloric or nutrient intake. The findings, published in the
October/November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, provide a
simple dietary intervention that could result in weight loss and have significant impact
on several epidemic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease. The
findings are the result of a clinical study involving over 350 people which was conducted
in collaboration with, and with support from, the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The
study builds on earlier research conducted in animal models that demonstrated the
effective prevention of these diseases and even the extension of lifespan by consuming a
reduced AGE diet. "What is noteworthy about our findings is that reduced AGE
consumption proved to be effective in all study participants, including healthy persons
and persons who have a chronic condition such as kidney disease," said the study's
lead author Helen Vlassara, MD, Professor and Director of the Division of Experimental
Diabetes and Aging at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Research shows Tai Chi exercise
reduces knee osteoarthritis pain in the elderly
Researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine have determined that patients over 65
years of age with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who engage in regular Tai Chi exercise improve
physical function and experience less pain. Tai Chi (Chuan) is a traditional style of
Chinese martial arts that features slow, rhythmic movements to induce mental relaxation
and enhance balance, strength, flexibility, and self-efficacy. Full findings of the study
are published in the November issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the
American College of Rheumatology. The elderly population is at most risk for developing
knee OA, which results in pain, functional limitations or disabilities and a reduced
quality of life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there
are 4.3 million U.S. adults over age 60 diagnosed with knee OA, a common form of arthritis
that causes wearing of joint cartilage. A recent CDC report further explains that half of
American adults may develop symptoms of OA in at least one knee by age 85. For this study,
Chenchen Wang, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues recruited 40 patients from the greater Boston
area with confirmed knee OA who were in otherwise good health. The mean age of
participants was 65 years with a mean body mass index of 30.0 kg/m2. Patients were
randomly selected and 20 were asked to participate in 60-minute Yang style Tai Chi
sessions twice weekly for 12 weeks. Each session included: a 10-minute self-massage and a
review of Tai Chi principles; 30 minutes of Tai Chi movement; 10 minutes of breathing
technique; and 10 minutes of relaxation.
Research suggests link between
facial structure and aggression
Angry words and gestures are not the only way to get a sense of how temperamental a person
is. According to new findings in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for
Psychological Science, a quick glance at someone's facial structure may be enough for us
to predict their tendency towards aggression. Facial width-to-height ratio (WHR) is
determined by measuring the distance between the right and left cheeks and the distance
from the upper lip to the mid-brow. During childhood, boys and girls have similar facial
structures, but during puberty, males develop a greater WHR than females. Previous
research has suggested that males with a larger WHR act more aggressively than those with
a smaller WHR. For example, studies have shown that hockey players with greater WHR earn
more penalty minutes per game than players with lower WHR. Psychologists Justin M. Carré,
Cheryl M. McCormick, and Catherine J. Mondloch of Brock University conducted an experiment
to see if it is possible to predict another person's propensity for aggressive behavior
simply by looking at their photograph. Volunteers viewed photographs of faces of men for
whom aggressive behavior was previously assessed in the lab. The volunteers rated how
aggressive they thought each person was on a scale of one to seven after viewing each face
for either 2000 milliseconds or 39 milliseconds.
Researchers develop innovative
imaging system to study sudden cardiac arrest
A research team at Vanderbilt University has developed an innovative optical system to
simultaneously image electrical activity and metabolic properties in the same region of a
heart, to study the complex mechanisms that lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Tested in
animal models, the system could dramatically advance scientists' understanding of the
relationship between metabolic disorders and heart rhythm disturbances in humans that can
lead to cardiac arrest and death, and provide a platform for testing new treatments to
prevent or stop potentially fatal irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias. The research
is supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the
National Institutes of Health. The design and use of the dual camera system is described
in the Nov.1 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Additional support for the
project has also been provided by the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems
Research and Education (VIIBRE), the American Heart Association, and the Simons Center for
Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study. "The challenge in understanding
cardiac rhythm disorders is to discern the dynamic relationship between multiple cardiac
variables," said one of the coauthors of the paper and the project's principal
investigator, John P. Wikswo, Ph.D., Gordon A. Cain University Professor and VIIBRE
director. "This dual camera system opens up a new window for correlating metabolic
and electrophysiological events, which are usually studied independently." The
11-year-old research project would have been terminated this year due to lack of funding,
according to Wikswo. But a $566,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant from the
NHLBI is enabling the 13-member research team to continue developing and testing the
innovative optical system. Recovery Act funds are also allowing the team to purchase a
pair of $60,000 high-speed and highly sensitive digital cameras to record the changes in
the metabolic and electrical activity of isolated cardiac tissue using low-intensity
fluorescent dyes under conditions associated with heart failure, ischemia, fibrillation
and other pathological circumstances.
Researchers develop innovative
imaging system to study sudden cardiac arrest
A research team at Vanderbilt University has developed an innovative optical system to
simultaneously image electrical activity and metabolic properties in the same region of a
heart, to study the complex mechanisms that lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Tested in
animal models, the system could dramatically advance scientists' understanding of the
relationship between metabolic disorders and heart rhythm disturbances in humans that can
lead to cardiac arrest and death, and provide a platform for testing new treatments to
prevent or stop potentially fatal irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias. The research
is supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the
National Institutes of Health. The design and use of the dual camera system is described
in the Nov.1 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Additional support for the
project has also been provided by the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems
Research and Education (VIIBRE), the American Heart Association, and the Simons Center for
Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study. "The challenge in understanding
cardiac rhythm disorders is to discern the dynamic relationship between multiple cardiac
variables," said one of the coauthors of the paper and the project's principal
investigator, John P. Wikswo, Ph.D., Gordon A. Cain University Professor and VIIBRE
director. "This dual camera system opens up a new window for correlating metabolic
and electrophysiological events, which are usually studied independently."
Researchers discover links between
city walkability and air pollution exposure
A new study compares neighborhoods’ walkability (degree of ease for walking) with
local levels of air pollution and finds that some neighborhoods might be good for walking,
but have poor air quality. Researchers involved in the study include University of
Minnesota faculty member Julian Marshall and University of British Columbia faculty
Michael Brauer and Lawrence Frank.The findings highlight the need for urban design to
consider both walkability and air pollution, recognizing that neighborhoods with high
levels of one pollutant may have low levels of another pollutant. The study, done for the
city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is the first of its kind to compare the two
environmental attributes, and suggests potential environmental health effects of
neighborhood location, layout and design for cities around the globe. The research study
is published in the November 2009 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, the
peer-reviewed journal of the United States’ National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Researchers discover links between
city walkability and air pollution exposure
A new study compares neighborhoods' walkability (degree of ease for walking) with local
levels of air pollution and finds that some neighborhoods might be good for walking, but
have poor air quality. Researchers involved in the study include University of Minnesota
faculty member Julian Marshall and University of British Columbia faculty Michael Brauer
and Lawrence Frank. The findings highlight the need for urban design to consider both
walkability and air pollution, recognizing that neighborhoods with high levels of one
pollutant may have low levels of another pollutant. The study, done for the city of
Vancouver, British Columbia, is the first of its kind to compare the two environmental
attributes, and suggests potential environmental health effects of neighborhood location,
layout and design for cities around the globe. The research study is published in the
November 2009 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, the peer-reviewed journal of the
United States' National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. The research team found that, on average,
neighborhoods downtown are more walkable and have high levels of some pollutants, while
suburban locations are less walkable and have high levels of different pollutants.
Neighborhoods that fare well for pollution and walkability tend to be a few miles away
from the downtown area. These "win-win" urban residential neighborhoods--which
avoid the downtown and the suburban air pollution plus exhibit good walkability--are rare,
containing only about two percent of the population studied. Census data indicate that
these neighborhoods are relatively high-income, suggesting that they are desirable places
to live. Neighborhoods that fare poorly for both pollution and walkability tend to be in
the suburbs and are generally middle-income.
Researchers find brain cell
transplants help repair neural damage
A Swiss research team has found that using an animal's own brain cells (autologous
transplant) to replace degenerated neurons in select brain areas of donor primates with
simulated but asymptomatic Parkinson's disease and previously in a motor cortex lesion
model, provides a degree of brain protection and may be useful in repairing brain lesions
and restoring function. "We aimed at determining whether autografted cells derived
from cortical gray matter, cultured for one month and re-implanted in the caudate nucleus
of dopamine depleted primates, effectively survived and migrated," said Dr.
Jean-Francoise Brunet who, along with colleagues, published their study in Cell
Transplantation (18:7), now freely available on-line at
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct. "The autologous, re-implanted cells
survived at an impressively high rate of 50 percent for four months
post-implantation." While the use of neural grafts to restore function after lesions
or degeneration of the central nervous system has been widely reported, the objective of
this study was to replace depleted neurons to a restricted brain area and to avoid both
the ethical controversies accompanying fetal cell transplants as well as immune rejection.
Researchers find yoga may be
effective for chronic low back pain in minority populations
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center
found that yoga may be more effective than standard treatment for reducing chronic low
back pain in minority populations. This study appears in the November issue of Alternative
Therapies in Health and Medicine. Low back pain is common in the United States, resulting
in substantial disability and cost to society. Individuals from low-income, minority
backgrounds with chronic low back pain (CLBP) may be more affected due to disparities in
access to treatment. Although many CLBP patients seek relief from complementary therapies
such as yoga, use of these approaches are less common among minorities and individuals
with lower incomes or less education. BUSM researchers recruited adults with CLBP from two
community health centers that serve racially diverse, low-income neighborhoods of Boston.
They were randomly assigned to either a standardized 12-week series of hatha yoga classes
or standard treatment including doctor's visits and medications. As part of the trial, the
researchers asked participants to report their average pain intensity for the previous
week, how their function is limited due to back pain, and how much pain medication they
are taking. The yoga group participated in 12 weekly 75-minute classes that included
postures, breathing techniques, and meditation. Classes were taught by a team of
registered yoga teachers and were limited to eight participants. Home practice for 30
minutes daily was strongly encouraged. Participants were provided with an audio CD of the
class, a handbook describing and depicting the exercises, a yoga mat, strap, and block.
Researchers identify genetic links
to fungal infection susceptibility
New research has identified two genetic mutations that may put individuals at increased
risk for fungal infections. The research focused on patients with severe fungal infections
(primarily of the genus Candida), but the findings may also have implications for patients
who have more common mild infections. The research is published in two studies that appear
together in the October 29, 2009 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The two
independent research teams, one led by Prof. Mihai Netea (Radboud University Nijmegen
Medical Centre, The Netherlands) and one led by Prof. Bodo Grimbacher (University College
London, Royal Free Campus Hampstead, United Kingdom) discovered that mutations in two
proteins involved in the pathway responsible for recognition of fungal beta-glucans
substantially impaired the immune system’s ability to control fungi. Dr. Netea’s
team discovered the relationship with mutations in the protein Dectin-1, and Dr.
Grimbacher’s team identified the relationship with mutations in the CARD9 protein.
The new results show that the mechanisms to protect against fungal infections have been
largely conserved by evolution between mice and humans, which is not necessarily the case
for other microbes. After sensing the presence of Candida by specialised recognition
proteins such as Dectin-1, immune cells send signals from their surface to the inside,
where CARD9 acts as an adaptor molecule that integrates those signals. CARD9 then
initiates several molecular response mechanisms of the innate and adaptive immune system
to protect us from those microorganisms. If Dectin-1 or CARD9 are mutated or missing, our
immune system struggles to control Candida and may allow local or even systemic infections
to develop.
Researchers identify the three
killer indicators that are even worse than high cholesterol
Researchers at the University of Warwick have identified a particular combination of
health problems that can double the risk of heart attack and cause a three-fold increase
in the risk of mortality. The team, led by Assistant Clinical Professor of Public Health
at Warwick Medical School Dr Oscar Franco, has discovered that simultaneously having
obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar are the most dangerous combination of
health factors when developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of
medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and
diabetes. The main five health problems normally associated with metabolic syndrome are
abnormal levels of blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglyceride levels (the
chemical form in which fat exists in the body), too much sugar in the blood and central
obesity (excess of fat around the waistline). In his study, published in the American
Heart Association journal Circulation, Dr Franco has identified the most dangerous
combination of these conditions to be central obesity, high blood pressure and high blood
sugar. People who have all three of these conditions are twice as likely to have a heart
attack and three times more likely to die earlier than the general population. His team
looked at 3,078 people to track the prevalence and progress of Metabolic Syndrome as part
of the Framingham Offspring Study.
Researchers Link Low-Level Mercury
Exposure, Zinc Deficiency and Learning Disorders
Child learning and behavioral disorders are on the rise. Increasingly, diet-related
factors like synthetic food dyes, mercury contamination and mineral deficiencies are being
linked to these problems.
Researchers unlock the 'sound of
learning' by linking sensory and motor systems
Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study
published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at Haskins
Laboratories, a Yale-affiliated research laboratory. The findings could have a major
impact on improving speech disorders. "We've found that learning is a two-way street;
motor function affects sensory processing and vice-versa," said David J. Ostry, a
senior scientist at Haskins Laboratories and professor of psychology at McGill University.
"Our results suggest that learning to talk makes it easier to understand the speech
of others." As a child learns to talk, or an adult learns a new language, Ostry
explained, a growing mastery of oral fluency is matched by an increase in the ability to
distinguish different speech sounds. While these abilities may develop in isolation, it is
possible that learning to talk also changes the way we hear speech sounds. Ostry and
co-author Sazzad M. Nasir tested the notion that speech motor learning alters auditory
perceptual processing by evaluating how speakers hear speech sounds following motor
learning. They simulated speech learning by using a robotic device, which introduced a
subtle change in the movement path of the jaw during speech.
Restless legs more common than
previously thought
New research suggests that 23 percent of people have restless leg syndrome, or RLS, which
is much higher than previously reported rates of 3 percent to 10 percent.
Scientists expose vitamin C's
pro-oxidant alter ego
The antioxidant vitamin C is well know for mopping up free radicals, but it can also
create them – with surprising results
Scientists Propose New Explanation
For Flu Virus Antigenic Drift
Influenza viruses evade infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of
their major surface protein.
Scientists Reveal How Induced
Pluripotent Stem Cells Differ from Embryonic Stem Cells and Tissue of Derivation
The same genes that are chemically altered during normal cell differentiation, as well as
when normal cells become cancer cells, are also changed in stem cells that scientists
derive from adult cells, according to new research from Johns Hopkins and Harvard.
Although genetically identical to the mature body cells from which they are derived,
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are notably special in their ability to self-renew
and differentiate into all kinds of cells. And now scientists have detected a remarkable
if subtle molecular disparity between the two: They have distinct “epigenetic”
signatures; that is, they differ in what gets copied when the cell divides, even though
these differences aren’t part of the DNA sequence. “Relatively little study has
been done on the epigenetic nature of stem cells,” says Andrew Feinberg, M.D.,
M.P.H., a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
“To date, the bulk of what is known about stem cells is focused on how you create
them and grow them and so forth, but not on the essence of them, and what is fundamentally
different about these cells.”
Scientists sift soil for new
antibiotics
Scientists are looking at diverse sources — such as soil and frog skins — for
new antibiotics, worried that doctors will run out of options to treat increasingly
antibiotic-resistant infections.
Seasonal flu vaccine ups risk of
pandemic flu
Earlier this year, Dutch scientists showed that vaccinating mice against seasonal strains
of flu rendered the animals unnecessarily vulnerable to dying if they later encountered a
pandemic flu strain.
Sedatives Increase Risk of Suicides
in Elderly
Taking sedatives or sleeping pills increases the suicide risk of senior citizens by 300
percent, according to a study conducted by researchers from Gothenburg University in
Sweden and published in the journal BMC Geriatrics.
Senate Bill Would Give President
Obama Authority to Pull the Plug on Your Internet
If the ‘Internet Takeover Bill’ passes, Barack Obama can silence his dissenters
directly -- by ordering a shutdown of all Americans’ access to the Internet. But
that’s not all. Even outside of periods of White House-declared
‘emergency,’ this bill mandates that private-sector networks only be managed by
government-licensed cybersecurity professionals.
Sewer plants pollute water
Iowa's outdated sewage treatment plants regularly dump excess pollution into rivers and
streams that provide drinking water for up to 900,000 people and recreation for many more,
a Des Moines Register analysis of state records shows.
Short-term hormone therapy added to
radiation increases survival for medium-risk, but not low-risk, prostate cancer patients
Short-term hormone therapy given prior to and during radiation treatment to medium-risk
prostate cancer patients increases their chance of living longer, compared to those who
receive radiation alone, however there is no significant benefit for low-risk patients,
according to the largest randomized study of its kind presented at the plenary session
November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation
Oncology (ASTRO). This phase III study is one of the largest clinical trials of prostate
cancer therapy ever completed, with 2,000 low- and intermediate-risk patients enrolled in
the trial from October 1994 to April 2001. Researchers from the Radiation Therapy Oncology
Group (RTOG) followed men with early-stage prostate cancer for a period in most cases of
more than nine years. This timeframe was sufficient to show improved survival benefits of
short-term hormone therapy added to what was then the standard radiation treatment for
prostate cancer, which involved slightly lower doses of radiation than are currently used
today with newer techniques, such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
"The study provides strong scientific evidence that shows us when to deliver hormone
therapy with radiation in patients with localized prostate cancer," Christopher U.
Jones, M.D., an author of the study and a radiation oncologist at Radiological Associates
of Sacramento in Sacramento, Calif., said. "Our findings show that men with low-risk
disease, which is the vast majority of prostate cancer patients, have little to gain from
adding hormone therapy to radiation. However, men with intermediate-risk disease, which is
a significant minority of patients, gain a benefit in overall survival from the addition
of only four months of hormone therapy. Prior to this trial, it was unclear whether or not
combining hormone therapy with radiation for medium-risk prostate cancer patients improves
survival."
Short-term hormone therapy and
intermediate dose radiation increases survivial for early stage prostate cancer
Short-term hormone therapy given prior to and during intermediate dose radiation treatment
for men with early stage prostate cancer increases their chance of living longer, compared
to those who receive the same radiation alone, according to a Radiation Therapy Oncology
Group (RTOG) study, the largest randomized trial of its kind, presented November 2, 2009,
at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting. The RTOG trial
noted that this benefit appeared to be greatest for men currently defined as at
medium-risk for disease failure. The phase III study is one of the largest clinical trials
of prostate cancer therapy ever completed, with 2,000 low- and intermediate-risk patients
enrolled in the trial from October 1994 to April 2001. This trial was conducted by the
RTOG and followed men with early-stage prostate cancer in most cases for more than nine
years. This time period is sufficient to show improved survival benefits of short-term
hormone therapy added to what was then the standard radiation treatment for prostate
cancer, which involved slightly lower doses of radiation than are currently used today
with newer techniques, such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). "This
landmark RTOG study provides strong scientific evidence that shows us when to deliver
hormone therapy with radiation in men with localized prostate cancer. Prior to this trial,
it was unclear whether or not combining hormone therapy with radiation for medium-risk
prostate cancer patients would increase survival," said Christopher U. Jones, M.D.,
an author of the study and a radiation oncologist at Radiological Associates of Sacramento
in Sacramento, Calif. "It remains uncertain whether the addition of hormone therapy
to the higher radiation dose and new technology treatments being employed today would
provide the same or greater benefit to that documented in this study. It is possible that
it could."
Sight gone, but not necessarily
lost?
Like all tissues in the body, the eye needs a healthy blood supply to function properly.
Poorly developed blood vessels can lead to visual impairment or even blindness. While many
of the molecules involved in guiding the development of the intricate blood vessel
architecture are known, only now are we learning how these molecules work and how they
might affect sight. Reporting in the Oct. 16 issue of Cell, researchers at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine find that when some cells in the mouse retina are not properly
fed by blood vessels, they can remain alive for many months and can later recover some or
all of their normal function, suggesting that similar conditions in people may also be
reversible. "This finding is intriguing," says Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D., a
professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience and ophthalmology at Johns
Hopkins and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "It suggests that neurons
in the retina can survive for an extended period of time even though they have been
functionally silenced."
Sights and sounds of emotion
trigger big brain responses
Researchers at the University of York have identified a part of the brain that responds to
both facial and vocal expressions of emotion. They used the MagnetoEncephaloGraphic (MEG)
scanner at the York Neuroimaging Centre to test responses in a region of the brain known
as the posterior superior temporal sulcus. The research team from the University's
Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre found that the posterior superior
temporal sulcus responds so strongly to a face plus a voice that it clearly has a
'multimodal' rather than an exclusively visual function. The research is published in the
latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Test participants
were shown photographs of people with fearful and neutral facial expressions, and were
played fearful and neutral vocal sounds, separately and together. Responses in the
posterior superior temporal sulcus were substantially heightened when subjects could both
see and hear the emotional faces and voices, but not when subjects could both see and hear
the neutral faces and voices.Researchers believe that the finding could help in the study
of autism and other neuro-developmental disorders which exhibit face perception deficits.
Sizing up palm oil
Palm oil is in everything from fuel to cosmetics. Is it a solution or a problem?
Slimming gene regulates body fat
Scientists at the University of Bonn have discovered a previously unknown fruit fly gene
that controls the metabolism of fat. Larvae in which this gene is defective lose their
entire fat reserves. Therefore the researchers called the gene 'schlank' (German for
'slim'). Mammals carry a group of genes that are structurally very similar to 'schlank'.
They possibly take on a similar function in the energy metabolism. The scientists
therefore have hopes in new medicines with which obesity could be fought. Their research
bas been published in 'The EMBO Journal' (doi: 10.1038/emboj.2009.305). If scientists
decipher the function of a gene, they are allowed to name it. With the fruit fly
Drosophila there is a rather paradox convention. The names always indicate what the fly
looks like if the respective gene is defective. That is also the case with the schlank
gene. If it is unimpaired the fly larva can build up fat reserves. It becomes fat. 'Larvae
with a mutation of schlank, however, remain slim,' Professor Michael Hoch from the
University of Bonn explains. 'In extreme cases the defect can even lead to death.'
Together with Dr. Reinhard Bauer and other employees the development biologist has
explored what exactly 'schlank' does. According to their research the gene contains the
instructions of what is known as ceramide synthase. Ceramides serve as raw materials for
the gauzy membranes that enclose all of the cells in the body. Moreover, schlank also has
a regulatory function. It promotes lipid synthesis and at the same time inhibits the
mobilisation of fat from the fat reserves.
Smokers with common autoimmune
disorder at higher risk for skin damage
As if there weren't enough reasons to stop smoking, a team of researchers at the Research
Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have just found another. A
study led by Dr. Christian A Pineau, Co-Director of the Lupus and Vasculitis clinic at the
MUHC, has clearly linked skin damage and rashes to smoking in people with systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE). The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of
Rheumatology. SLE is a long-term autoimmune disorder affecting about one in every 2000
people. About 90 per cent of SLE patients are women, many of them young. Symptoms are
caused by an overactive immune system, and the disease can cause inflammation and damage
in almost any organ system, including the skin. "Up to 85 per cent of people with SLE
develop skin involvement at some point," explains Dr. Pineau. "Our study shows
that the risk of skin damage such as permanent hair loss and scarring from skin
inflammation is significantly increased in smokers. So is the rate of active lupus
rash."
Smoking while pregnant linked to
behavioural problems in children
Developing structure and function of the foetal brain at risk, research suggests.
Soft drink manufacturers using GM
corn in syrup for beverages
Major Japanese soft drink manufacturers are using high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) -- a
sweetener made using corn that has been genetically modified (GM) -- in their beverages,
the Mainichi has found.
Soy Foods - Eating too much of a
good thing might be bad, scientists say
Americans consume over $4 billion of soy foods each year because of their many health
benefits. But new studies suggest that eating large amounts of soy's estrogen-mimicking
compounds might reduce fertility in women, trigger early puberty and disrupt development
of fetuses and children. 'We know that too much genistein is not a good thing for a
developing mouse; it may not be a good thing for a developing child,' said Retha Newbold
of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Statins may worsen symptoms in some
cardiac patients
Although statins are widely used to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and other
cardiovascular disorders, new research shows that the class of drugs may actually have
negative effects on some cardiac patients. A new study presented at CHEST 2009, the 75th
annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians
(ACCP), found that statins have beneficial effects on patients with systolic heart failure
(SHF), but those with diastolic heart failure (DHF) experienced the opposite effect,
including increased dyspnea, fatigue, and decreased exercise tolerance. "Systolic
heart failure is most often due to coronary artery disease and appears to have more of an
inflammatory component than diastolic heart failure," said Lawrence P. Cahalin, PhD,
PT, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. "It is possible that statins would help
patients with systolic heart failure more than patients with diastolic heart failure due
to the cholesterol-lowering and antiinflammatory effects of statins." Researchers
from Northeastern University and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA,
retrospectively reviewed the charts of 136 patients with heart failure in order to examine
the effect of statins on pulmonary function (PF) and exercise tolerance (ET) in patients
with DHF vs. SHF. A non-statin group (82 percent of patients had DHF) of 75 patients was
compared with a statin group (72 percent of patients had DHF) of 61 patients. Atorvastatin
was prescribed in 75 percent of the patients on statins. Results of the analysis showed
that overall PF and ET of patients in the statin group were significantly lower than
patients in the non-statin group. Further subgroup analyses revealed that PF measures in
the DHF statin group were 12 percent lower than PF measures in the DHF non-statin group.
Furthermore, the amount of exercise performed by patients with DHF who were on a statin
was almost 50 percent less than patients with DHF not on a statin.
Statins Show Dramatic Drug And Cell
Dependent Effects In The Brain
A study in the October Journal of Lipid Research finds that similar statin drugs can have
profoundly different effects on brain cells -both beneficial and detrimental.
Stem cell therapy may offer hope
for acute lung injury
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have shown that
adult stem cells from bone marrow can prevent acute lung injury in a mouse model of the
disease. Their results are reported online in the October issue of the journal Stem Cells.
Acute lung injury (ALI) is responsible for an estimated 74,500 deaths in the U.S. each
year. ALI can be caused by any major inflammation or injury to the lungs and is a major
cause of death in patients in hospital ICUs. There is no effective drug treatment. In ALI,
the layer of cells that forms the lining of the blood vessels surrounding the lung's air
sacs is damaged, allowing fluid to leak in and fill the sacs. Repair of these breaks in
the endothelium, or lining, is complicated by the fact that endothelial cells are
long-lived, says Kishore Wary, UIC assistant professor of pharmacology and lead author of
the study. Turnover of new cells takes as long as two to five years, and few of the
precursor cells needed for replacement circulate in the body at any given time. "The
stem cells that might be able repair the damage caused by ALI are simply not on
hand," he said.
Stereotactic radiosurgery as
effective in eliminating Parkinson’s disease tremors as other treatments, but less
invasive
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a less invasive way to eliminate tremors caused by
Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor than deep brain stimulation (DBS) and
radiofrequency (RF) treatments, and is as effective, according to a long-term study
presented November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). “The study shows that radiosurgery is an effective and
safe method of getting rid of tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease and essential
tremor, with outcomes that favorably compare to both DBS and RF in tremor relief and risk
of complications at seven years after treatment,” Rufus Mark, M.D., an author of the
study and a radiation oncologist at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center and Texas Tech
University, both in Lubbock, Texas said. “In view of these long-term results, this
non-invasive procedure should be considered a primary treatment option for tremors that
are hard to treat.”
Stress-induced changes in brain
circuitry linked to cocaine relapse
Stress-evoked changes in circuits that regulate serotonin in certain parts of the brain
can precipitate a low mood and a relapse in cocaine-seeking, based on mouse studies
published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early
Edition."The impetus for this research was our interest in how stress alters the
brain's cell receptors and protein signals in ways that lead to mood changes, depression,
anxiety, and drug seeking," said Dr. Michael Bruchas, acting instructor of
pharmacology at the University of Washington (UW), who with Dr. Benjamin Land, a former UW
doctoral student now in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, co-led the recent
study of the adverse effects of stress-activated brain pathways. The senior author was Dr.
Charles Chavkin, the Allan and Phyllis Treuer Professor of Pharmacology and director of
the UW Center for Drug Addiction Research A common belief is that drug seeking is
regulated by dopamine, a chemical nerve signal associated with motivating and rewarding
behavior. Dopamine may still have a key role, the researchers noted, which is why they
were surprised to find harmful effects of stress converging in a brain region-- the dorsal
raphe nucleus --where nerve cells that use serotonin are abundant. These nerve cells also
project to other structures found on either side of the brain -- the nucleus accumbens --
which are thought to play roles in feeding and drug addiction. Serotonin is a chemical
nerve signal that has been associated with wake and sleep cycles, mood, anger, status and
aggression
Students continue tanning despite
health warnings
Despite constant warnings from health care professionals, many students at ASU continue to
crave the bronzed look they get from tanning beds.
Study claims meat creates half of
all greenhouse gases
Climate change emissions from meat production are far higher than currently estimated,
according to a controversial new study that will fuel the debate on whether people should
eat fewer animal products to help the environment.
Study examines associations between
antibiotic use during pregnancy and birth defects
Penicillin and several other antibacterial medications commonly taken by pregnant women do
not appear to be associated with many birth defects, according to a report in the November
issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals. However, other antibiotics, such as sulfonamides and nitrofurantoins, may be
associated with several severe birth defects and require additional scrutiny. Treating
infections is critical to the health of a mother and her baby, according to background
information in the article. Therefore, bacteria-fighting medications are among the most
commonly used drugs during pregnancy. Although some classes of antibiotics appear to have
been used safely during pregnancy, no large-scale studies have examined safety or risks
involved with many classes of antibacterial medications. Krista S. Crider, Ph.D., of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from
13,155 women whose pregnancies were affected by one of more than 30 birth defects (cases).
The information was collected by surveillance programs in 10 states as part of the
National Birth Defects Prevention Study. The researchers compared antibacterial use before
and during pregnancy between these women and 4,941 randomly selected control women who
lived in the same geographical regions but whose babies did not have birth defects.
Antibacterial use among all women increased during pregnancy, peaking during the third
month. A total of 3,863 mothers of children with birth defects (29.4 percent) and 1,467
control mothers (29.7 percent) used antibacterials sometime between three months before
pregnancy and the end of pregnancy. "Reassuringly, penicillins, erythromycins and
cephalosporins, although used commonly by pregnant women, were not associated with many
birth defects," the authors write. Two defects were associated with erythromycins
(used by 1.5 percent of the mothers whose children had birth defects and 1.6 percent of
controls), one with penicillins (used by 5.5 percent of case mothers and 5.9 percent of
controls), one with cephalosporins (used by 1 percent of both cases and controls) and one
with quinolones (used by 0.3 percent of both cases and controls).
Study finds lack of VEGF can cause
defects similar to dry macular degeneration
Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that when the eye is missing a
diffusible form of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), i.e. one that when secreted
can reach other cells at a distance, the retina shows defects similar to "dry"
macular degeneration, also called geographic atrophy (GA). This finding, published in the
November 3, 2009 print edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences),
not only increases the understanding of the causes of this blinding disease, but it may
also impact the use of anti-VEGF drugs, such as Lucentis, which are designed to neutralize
VEGF in eyes with "wet" macular degeneration. "These results are
significant for several reasons. We know little about what causes GA or how to treat it.
Our discovery may be an important piece of the puzzle. It shows that reduced VEGF from the
retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), RPE, the bottommost layer of the retina, to the
choriocapillaris (CC) - the small blood vessels beneath retina-- leads to degeneration of
the CC. Therefore, the continuous blockage of VEGF may contribute to the development of or
a worsening of GA," says Patricia D'Amore, principal investigator of the study and
senior scientist at Schepens. VEGF is a protein that stimulates the growth of new blood
vessels. The eye produces several different forms of VEGF that differ in their size and
their ability to move away from the producing cell.
Study finds link between childhood
physical abuse and arthritis
Adults who had experienced physical abuse as children have 56 per cent higher odds of
osteoarthritis compared to those who have not been abused, according to a new study by
University of Toronto researchers. University of Toronto researchers investigated the
relationship between self-reported childhood physical abuse and a diagnosis of
osteoarthritis (OA). After analyzing representative data from the 2005 Canadian Community
Health Survey, the researchers determined a significant association between childhood
physical abuse and osteoarthritis in adulthood. The study is published in the November
issue of the journal Arthritis Care & Research. Osteoarthritis is an often
debilitating chronic condition that affects millions of adults. "We found that 10.2
per cent of those with osteoarthritis reported they had been physically abused as children
in comparison to 6.5 per cent of those without osteoarthritis," says lead author Esme
Fuller-Thomson of U of T's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Department of
Family and Community Medicine. "This study provides further support for the need to
investigate the possible role that childhood abuse plays in the development of chronic
illness."
Study links folic acid supplements
to asthma
A University of Adelaide study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in
developed countries like Australia in recent decades. Researchers from the University's
Robinson Institute have identified a link between folic acid supplements taken in late
pregnancy and allergic asthma in children aged between 3 and 5 years, suggesting that the
timing of supplementation in pregnancy is important. Associate Professor Michael Davies
says that folic acid supplements – recommended for pregnant women to prevent birth
defects – appear to have "additional and unexpected" consequences in recent
studies in mice and infants. "In our study, supplemental folic acid in late pregnancy
was associated with an increased risk of asthma in children, but there was no evidence to
suggest any adverse effects if supplements were taken in early pregnancy." The
University of Adelaide findings have been published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology. The study involved more than 500 women whose maternal diet and supplements
were assessed twice during their pregnancy, with follow-up on their child's asthma status
at 3.5 years and 5.5 years. Asthma was reported in 11.6% of children at 3.5 years and
11.8% of children at 5.5 years. Nearly a third of these children reported persistent
asthma.
Study points to new uses,
unexpected side effects of already-existing drugs
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the
University of California, San Francisco have developed and experimentally tested a
technique to predict new target diseases for existing drugs. The researchers developed a
computational method that compares how similar the structures of all known drugs are to
the naturally occurring binding partners -- known as ligands -- of disease targets within
the cell. In a study published this week in Nature, the scientists showed that the method
predicts potential new uses as well as unexpected side effects of approved drugs.
“This approach uncovered interactions between drugs and targets that we never could
have predicted simply by looking at the chemical structures,” said senior study
author Bryan Roth, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and director of the National
Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program at UNC. “We may now
have a way to predict what side effects are likely to occur from treatment before we even
put a drug into clinical testing.” Roth is also a member of the UNC Lineberger
Comprehensive Cancer Center. Many of the most successful drugs on the market today are
being prescribed for ailments that are quite different from the ones they were originally
designed to treat. Viagra, for instance, was once intended for coronary heart disease but
now is used to combat erectile dysfunction. The discovery of surprising uses of developed
drugs can sometimes be the result of serendipity, as unforeseen side effects emerge from
clinical trials. In the past, researchers have tried to predict drug interactions by
looking for chemical similarities among the possible targets of pharmaceutical compounds.
Study reveals a 'missing link' in
immune response to disease
The immune system's T cells have the unique responsibilities of being both jury and
executioner. They examine other cells for signs of disease, including cancers or
infections, and, if such evidence is found, rid them from the body. Precisely how T cells
shift so swiftly from one role to another, however, has been a mystery. In a new study,
investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology used an array of techniques -- including
"optical tweezers" that exploit laser light to press molecules against surface
structures found on T cells -- to find out what operates the switch. Their answer: sheer
mechanical force. Hence, the T cell receptor is a mechanosensor. When a T cell's
"receptors" lock onto their targeted structures called antigens on the surface
of a diseased cell, parts of the receptors bend in a way that signals the T cell to change
from disease-scanning to disease-fighting mode, the researchers report. (Antigens are made
of peptides bound to histocompatibility proteins, or pMHCs.) They also found that after T
cell receptors (TCRs) and antigens meet, an additional force generated during scanning
triggers the T cell's response to disease.
Study shows hormone replacement
therapy decreases mortality in younger postmenopausal woman
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat menopausal estrogen deficiency has been in
widespread use for over 60 years. Several observational studies over the years showed that
HRT use by younger postmenopausal women was associated with a significant reduction in
total mortality; available evidence supported the routine use of HRT to increase longevity
in postmenopausal women. However, the 2002 publication of a major study, the Women's
Health Initiative (WHI), indicated increased risk for certain outcomes in older women,
without increasing mortality. This sparked debate regarding potential benefits or harm of
HRT. In an article published in the November 2009 issue of The American Journal of
Medicine, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of the available data using Bayesian
methods and concluded that HRT almost certainly decreases mortality in younger
postmenopausal women. Bayesian analysis uses prior data, updated with new information, to
make statistical inferences. The authors pooled results from 19 randomized trials that
included age-specific data from the WHI, with 16,000 younger postmenopausal women (mean
age 55 years) followed for 83,000 patient-years, and showed a mortality relative risk of
0.73. When data from 8 observational studies were added to the analysis, the resultant
relative risk was 0.72. Using Bayesian analysis to synthesize the available data, the
probability of a mortality benefit in this population was 1.0. This means that the
probability of the hypothesis that hormone therapy reduces total mortality in younger
women is essentially 1. Writing in the article, Shelley R. Salpeter, MD, states, "It
is clear that these findings need to be interpreted in the light of potential benefits and
harms of hormone therapy. The available evidence indicates that hormone therapy in younger
postmenopausal women increases the risk of breast cancer and pulmonary embolism and
reduces the risk of cardiovascular events, colon cancer, and hip fracture. The
cardiovascular benefit is a result of a small absolute increase in stroke and a greater
reduction in coronary heart disease events. The total mortality benefit for younger women
seen in the randomized trials and observational studies indicates that the reduction in
deaths from coronary heart disease, fracture, and colon cancer outweighed the increase in
deaths from breast cancer, stroke and pulmonary embolism. In addition to this mortality
benefit, hormone therapy in younger women provides an improvement in quality-of-life
measures, at least in the first few years of treatment."
Study Shows that Sleep Deprivation
Can Negatively Affect Information Processing
A study in the Nov.1 issue of the journal SLEEP showsthat sleep deprivation causes some
people to shift from a more automatic, implicit process of information categorization
(information integration) to a more controlled, explicit process (rule based). This use
of rule-based strategies in a task in which information-integration strategies are optimal
can lead to potentially devastating errors when quick and accurate categorization is
fundamental to survival. Results show that sleep deprivation led to an overall performance
deficit on an information-integration category learning task that was held over the course
of two days. Performance improved in the control group by 4.3 percent from the end of day
one to the beginning of day two (accuracy increased from 74 percent to 78.3 percent);
performance in the sleep-deprived group declined by 2.4 percent (accuracy decreased from
73.1 percent to 70.7 percent) from the end of day one to the beginning of day two.
According to co-principal investigators W. Todd Maddox, PhD, professor of psychology, and
David M. Schnyer, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the Institute for Neuroscience
at the University of Texas in Austin, fast and accurate categorization is critical in
situations that could become a matter of life or death. However, categorization may become
compromised in people who often experience sleep deprivation in fast-paced, high pressure
roles as doctors, firefighters, soldiers and even parents. Many tasks performed on a daily
basis require information-integration processing rather than rule-based categorization.
Examples include driving, making a medical diagnosis and performing air-traffic control.
Study shows that sleep disturbances
improve after retirement
A study in the Nov.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that retirement is followed by a
sharp decrease in the prevalence of sleep disturbances. Findings suggest that this general
improvement in sleep is likely to result from the removal of work-related demands and
stress rather than from actual health benefits of retirement. Results show that the odds
of having disturbed sleep in the seven years after retirement were 26 percent lower
(adjusted odds ratio of 0.74) than in the seven years before retiring. Sleep disturbance
prevalence rates among 14,714 participants fell from 24.2 percent in the last year before
retirement to 17.8 percent in the first year after retiring. The greatest reduction in
sleep disturbances was reported by participants with depression or mental fatigue prior to
retirement. The postretirement improvement in sleep also was more pronounced in men,
management-level workers, employees who reported high psychological job demands, and
people who occasionally or consistently worked night shifts. Lead author Jussi Vahtera,
professor in the department of public health at the University of Turku in Finland, noted
that the participants enjoyed employment benefits rarely seen today, including guaranteed
job stability, a statutory retirement age between 55 and 60 years, and a company-paid
pension that was 80 percent of their salary. "We believe these findings are largely
applicable in situations where financial incentives not to retire are relatively
weak," said Vahtera. "In countries and positions where there is no proper
pension level to guarantee financial security beyond working age, however, retirement may
be followed by severe stress disturbing sleep even more than before retirement."
Study spotlights efficacy of
questionnaire to identify patients at high risk for lung cancer
A study featured in the November issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology confirms the
success of a simple questionnaire designed to identify patients at high risk of lung
cancer. Initiated in 2001, the current study confirmed 18 cases of cancer of the original
430 patients who qualified as high risk after completing a five-minute questionnaire. The
study was conducted in primary care physician offices among patients seeking care for
general health issues. The evaluating physician incorporated a simple questionnaire
focused in three areas: risks, environments and genetics. Specific questions included
smoking habit, occupational environments (mining, construction or railroad),subsequent
exposure to chemicals and family history. Colorado's Primary Care Partners surveyed more
than 1,000 patients to evaluate their corresponding risk of lung cancer. Almost half of
those surveyed qualified as high risk, and 126 of these identified underwent spinometry, a
non-invasive breath measurement procedure. Of the patients with airflow obstruction, 88
underwent a full lung cancer screening. After five years, the study confirmed lung cancer
in eight patients with obstructed airflow and 10 in of the patients without. The study
opened the door to mitigate late diagnosis through embedding these simple questions into
the patient-physician dialogue. "Simple by design, our initiative received widespread
community support from physicians, patients and hospitals," said lead investigator
Thomas Petty, MD. By providing the guidelines for pointed questions when patients are
face-to-face with physicians, we can begin to identify those at risk."
Study Suggests Handedness May
Effect Body Perception
There are areas in the brain devoted to our arms, legs, and various parts of our bodies.
The way these areas are distributed throughout the brain are known as “body
maps” and there are some significant differences in these maps between left- and
right-handed people. For example, in left-handed people, there is an equal amount of brain
area devoted to the left and right arms in both hemispheres. However, for right-handed
people, there is more cortical area associated with right arm than the left.
Study Uncovers Key to How
‘Triggering Event’ in Cancer Occurs
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered what
leads to two genes fusing together, a phenomenon that has been shown to cause prostate
cancer to develop. The study found that pieces of chromosome relocate near each other
after exposure to the hormone androgen. This sets the scene for the gene fusion to occur.
The finding is reported online Oct. 29 in Science Express.
Sustainably grown garlic
Consumer interest in new and diverse types of garlic is on the rise. Fueled by factors
including the growth of the "local foods" movement, interest in world cuisines,
and widespread reports touting its numerous health benefits, demand for high-quality,
locally grown garlic is increasing throughout the U.S. While most grocery stores in carry
the familiar white, "softneck" garlic (which is most often imported), varieties
of "hardneck" garlic in colorful hues of purple, magenta, pink, and white are
becoming more available at local vegetable stands and through direct-marketing programs.
The results of a recent study of 10 garlic cultivars can help farmers identify niche
regional markets and offer new, in-demand garlic varieties to consumers. Hundreds of
garlic (Allium sativum L.) cultivars are available from seed companies, retailers, and
germplasm collections. Increasingly, growers purchase bulbs from nonlocal sources and are
often disappointed by unpredictable yields. Garlic bulbs resulting from seed stock
purchased in other regions may not display the characteristics—such as bulb size,
shape, and color—featured in the catalogs.
Switching immunosuppressants
reduces cancer risk in kidney
Switching to a newer type of immunosuppressant drug may reduce the high rate of skin
cancer after kidney transplantation, according to research being presented at the American
Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA.
"In spite of the life-saving nature of organ transplantation, the need for transplant
recipients to continue treatment with drugs that suppress the immune system to prevent
rejection of the organ is associated with a number of side effects, one of which is the
development of cancer," said lead researcher Graeme Russ, MD (The Queen Elizabeth
Hospital, Australia). "So the search for an immunosuppressive drug which prevents
rejection effectively but is associated with lower rates of cancer will be of significant
advantage to transplant recipients." The study included 86 kidney transplant patients
who previously had skin cancer (other than melanoma)—placing them at particularly
high risk of new skin cancers. In Australia, skin cancer is the most common type of cancer
occurring post-transplant. One group of patients remained on standard immunosuppressant
drug treatment. The other group was switched to treatment with sirolimus—one of a
newer class of immunosuppressants called mTOR inhibitors. "Previous studies have
suggested that mTOR inhibitors are associated with less cancer than other commonly used
agents," according to Russ.
Task force develops new radiation
guidelines for brachytherapy
Radiation dose delivered to the prostate and nearby organs in every brachytherapy
procedure should be carefully analyzed using post-implant CT or MRI and uniformly
documented in every patient, according to a new guideline co-authored by Yan Yu, Ph.D.,
director of Medical Physics in the department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson
University. The guideline was issued by a task group commissioned by the American
Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), and will be published in the November 2009
issue of Medical Physics. With the widespread use of image-guided dosimetry, there is a
need for developing a consensus methodology for dose prescription and reporting for
prostate brachytherapy. The dosimetric parameters used for evaluating an implant are
dependent on physician's delineation of the prostate, rectum, bladder and urethra on
post-implant imaging such as CT. Many research groups have reported that such delineation
can be quite variable. With the intent of providing consistent and reproducible dosimetric
information without increasing healthcare costs, the AAPM Task Group 137 issued new
recommendations and guidelines on the timing, imaging techniques, dose planning criteria
and dose evaluation parameters that should be followed in documenting each brachytherapy
treatment.
Teeth grinding linked to sleep
apnea
There is a high prevalence of nocturnal teeth grinding, or bruxism, in patients with
obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly in Caucasians. New research presented at CHEST
2009, the 75th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest
Physicians (ACCP), found that nearly 1 in 4 patients with OSA suffers from nighttime teeth
grinding; this seems to be especially more prevalent in men and in Caucasians compared
with other ethnic groups. It is estimated that 8 percent of the general US population
suffers from bruxism, a condition frequently associated with a preexisting dental or jaw
disorders, as well as stress. "The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and
sleep bruxism is usually related to an arousal response. The ending of an apneic event may
be accompanied by a number of mouth phenomena, such as snoring, gasps, mumbles, and teeth
grinding," said Shyam Subramanian, MD, FCCP, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
"Men typically have more severe sleep apnea, and perhaps may have more arousal
responses, which may explain the higher prevalence of teeth grinding in men. Besides, men
characteristically tend to report more symptoms of sleep apnea than women, such as
snoring, loud grunting, and witnessed apneas." Other factors that might help explain
the relationship between sleep apnea and teeth grinding include anxiety and caffeine use.
Tests on Pesticides Criticized
A program to test pesticides to make sure they do not affect human hormone systems will be
compromised by an Office of Management and Budget order allowing data from studies by
pesticide companies to susbstitute for new studies, according to some scientists involved
in developing the new program.
Tests on treasured maize ignite
fears in Mexico
As scientists race the clock to increase food production worldwide, new trials to plant
genetically-modified maize have stoked anger in Mexico, the cradle of corn.
The City of Too Much Medicine Makes
News Again
McAllen, Texas, famous for overspending on health care, is now the allergy capital of
America. But is it due to illness or inefficiency?
The HCG diet - Effective but
controversial
the hormone, which helps ensure a developing baby gets enough calories in the womb, can
also work wonders on the waistlines of women who are not pregnant.
The Key Role of Genomics in Modern
Vaccine and Drug Design for Emerging Infectious Diseases
We predict that genomics will greatly aid the control of EIDs because of the increased
efficiency with which vaccine and therapeutic targets can be identified using the
genome-based approaches described above. Furthermore, we anticipate the continual
refinement and development of novel genome-based approaches as sequencing becomes faster
and more affordable. Several challenges remain, however, in the identification of these
targets and in the processes needed to bring a new vaccine or drug to the market.
Understanding the molecular nature of epitopes, the mechanisms of action of adjuvants, and
T cell and mucosal immunity are key priorities to be tackled in the coming years.
The Protein for quick
decision-makers
Everyday, people are required to make decisions quickly and flexibly. In a flash, they
must weigh up the advantages, disadvantages and possible consequences of their behaviour
and coordinate it with the relevant external circumstances. This learning process involves
the messenger substance dopamine. Decisions that are perceived as positive and are
followed by a reward trigger the increased release of dopamine and are recorded by the
brain as beneficial. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have
now discovered an enzyme variant that promotes fast and flexible decision-making
behaviour.
The role of biomedical research in
malaria eradication
Although malaria has been controlled in many local and regional populations, the permanent
elimination of malaria parasites throughout the world remains an elusive goal, and the
disease continues to claim nearly one million lives each year. In 2007, Bill and Melinda
Gates called for a renewed effort to eradicate malaria worldwide. Some skeptics have
questioned the feasibility of doing so because of failed attempts to eradicate malaria in
the 20th century. In a new commentary, National Institutes of Health scientists B. Fenton
Hall, M.D., Ph.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the NIH National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), discuss the lessons learned from past attempts to
eradicate malaria and identify key challenges to achieving success today. The renewed
effort to eradicate malaria will require a long-term commitment that incorporates multiple
activities, interventions and approaches, they assert. As success in controlling malaria
is achieved, the behavior and distribution of malaria parasites and the mosquitoes that
spread them are likely to change. Scientists must be prepared to anticipate these changes
and alter their strategies to keep ahead of them by developing a robust pipeline of new
tools and interventions. The authors note that such a pipeline will require a sustained
research effort, as NIAID recently outlined in the Strategic Plan for Malaria Research and
the NIAID Malaria Research Agenda. NIAID is the lead U.S. government agency that supports
basic biomedical and clinical research in malaria.
This is your brain on fatty acids
Saturated fats have a deservedly bad reputation, but Johns Hopkins scientists have
discovered that a sticky lipid occurring naturally at high levels in the brain may help us
memorize grandma's recipe for cinnamon buns, as well as recall how, decades ago, she
served them up steaming from the oven. The Hopkins team, reporting Oct. 29 in Neuron,
reveals how palmitate, a fatty acid, marks certain brain proteins – NMDA receptors
– that need to be activated for long-term memory and learning to take place. The
fatty substance directs the receptors to specific locations in the outer membrane of brain
cells, which continually strengthen and weaken their connections with each other,
sculpting and resculpting new memory circuits. Moreover, the researchers report, this
fatty modification is a reversible process, with some sort of on-off switch, offering
possibilities for manipulating it to enhance or even, perhaps, erase memory. "Before
now, no one knew that NMDA receptors change in response to the addition of
palmitate," says Richard Huganir, Ph.D., professor and director of the Solomon H.
Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins. Scientists have known that a brain
signaling chemical called glutamate normally activates NMDA receptors, allowing two
neurons to communicate with one another. However, they were less certain what allowed this
receptor to assemble properly, or what caused it to make its way to the synapse, the
specialized part of nerve cells where communication takes place. The discovery emerged
from work with live neurons in a dish, to which the scientists first fed radioactive
palmitate, then separated out the NMDA receptors. By tracking radioactivity on X-ray film,
they were able to determine that the fat had attached to the NMDA receptors.Next, the
scientists put both normal and altered NMDA receptors into non-brain cells that don't
normally manufacture their own NMDA receptors. By tracking the radioactive fat, they were
able to determine where on the NMDA receptor the fat had attached.
Thousands of children on
antidepressants
Thousands of children are being prescribed anti-depressants and "chemical cosh"
drugs unnecessarily, the Conservatives have said.
Tocotrienol Build-Up in Tumors Is
Critical for Anti-Cancer Benefits
A new study from Japan reports that tocotrienols, members of the vitamin E family, may
exert their anti-cancer benefits by accumulating in cancer cells and delaying tumor
growth.
Toxic Cleaner Fumes Could
Contaminate California Classrooms
Widely Used Cleaning Supplies Emit More Than 450 Contaminants into the Air, Including
Chemicals that Trigger Asthma
Toxic Contaminants - The Other
Scourge
As the world focuses on the impact of climate change, little attention is being paid to
yet another environmental bane = increasing contamination of air, water and soil.
Toxic waste trickles toward New
Mexico's water sources
Radioactive debris has been found in canyons that drain into the Rio Grande, but officials
at the Los Alamos National Laboratory say there's no health risk.
Toxins in Halloween costumes
scarier than ghosts
Parents should be aware that some children's face paints intended for Halloween contain
toxic heavy metals and other chemicals, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The
organization found in the children's face paints contain lead, nickel, cobalt and
chromium, which can cause lifelong skin sensitization and contact dermatitis.
Train less and be faster
In a recent scientific study just published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Bangsbo
and co-workers demonstrate that by reducing the volume of training by 25% and introducing
the so-called speed endurance training (6-12 30-s sprint runs 3-4 times a week), endurance
trained runners can improve not only short-term but also long-term performance.Thus, the
runners improved their 10-km time by 1 min from 37.3 to 36.3 min after just 6-9 weeks of
changed training. Six of the participating 12 runners obtained a new personal record on
the 10-km, despite having been training for more than 4 years. The most impressive
achievement was the one runner who lowered the time with more than 2 minutes from 37.5 til
35.4 min. In addition, performance in a 30-s sprint test and an intense exhaustive run
(about 2 minutes) was improved by 7% and 36%, respectively. In agreement, the authors have
previously shown that an 85% reduction in training volume can improve short-term
performance (see below).
Treating mild iodine deficiency
boosts brain power
Iodine supplements may improve mental function in children with even mild deficiencies in
the nutrient, a small study suggests.
Tumors and sex changes
In spring of 2008, scientists from Cal Poly discovered that about 10 percent of goby fish
collected in Morro Bay were plagued by bulbous liver tumors. At the time they hypothesized
the gobies were being poisoned by sewage runoff and a common chemical found in everything
from detergents to spermicides.
Two members of drugs panel quit
Two members of the scientific panel that offers guidance to the Government on drug policy
have resigned over the treatment of chief adviser Professor David Nutt.
U.S. government plans major study
of the safety of BPA
The National Institutes of Health will devote $30 million to study the safety of bisphenol
A, or BPA, an estrogen-like chemical used in many plastics, including sippy cups and the
linings of metal cans.
UIC researchers have immune cells
running in circles
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine researchers have identified the
important role a protein plays in the body's first line of defense in directing immune
cells called neutrophils toward the site of infection or injury.Their results are
described online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Neutrophils are
white blood cells that are activated by chemical cues to move quickly to the site of
injury or infection, where they ingest bacteria. When alerted to infection, neutrophils
move by changing shape, developing a distinct front and back, sending a "foot"
out in front of them, and "crawling" toward the site of infection. Hoping to
better understand the role of a protein called p55 or MPPI that they had previously
identified as highly expressed in neutrophils, the UIC researchers bred the first mice
that completely lacked this protein. The "knockout" mice had marked difficulty
fighting infection and were slow to heal, according to Athar Chishti, professor of
pharmacology and principal investigator in the study. Instead of forming a single large
pseudopod, or foot-like extension, in the direction of the infection, neutrophils from the
knockout mice formed a number of small extensions all around the cell, said Chishti.
Neutrophils lacking p55 would follow a meandering path, wandering in circles. "It was
as though the neutrophils had lost their sense of direction," said Brendan Quinn,
graduate assistant researcher in pharmacology and first author of the study. Neutrophils
are part of the body's innate immunity and its first line of defense, so the speed of the
response is key to healing. "The neutrophils eventually get to the infection site,
but they would get there late," Quinn said.
Undetectable PSA after radiation is
possible and predicts good patient outcomes
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers report that radiation therapy alone can reduce
prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels below detectable amounts in prostate cancer
patients. Patients who have an undetectable level of PSA after therapy have less chance of
biochemical failure than other patients and a good chance of being cured. The data was
presented today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
"With high quality radiation––whether it is from an implant or external
beam––it is possible to get really low PSAs," says Eric M. Horwitz, M.D.,
acting chairman and clinical director of radiation oncology at Fox Chase. "And if you
do, you have a really good chance of being cured." Prostate cancer patients have
several options for therapy, including radiation or surgery. After surgery, patients are
expected to have an undetectable PSA because the entire prostate has been removed.
However, patients treated with radiation alone may still have viable prostate tissue after
treatment because the radiation beam is narrowly focused on the tumor. Therefore,
radiation oncologists have not expected their patients to have the same very low PSA
scores as surgical patients. That expectation appears to be changing, according to
Horwitz. "We used to tell our patients that they wouldn't have an undetectable or
really low PSA, but we are seeing that some do," Horwitz says.
Unlocking Mysteries of the Brain
with PET
Inflammatory response of brain cells—as indicated by a molecular imaging
technique—could tell researchers more about why certain neurologic disorders, such as
migraine headaches and psychosis in schizophrenic patients, occur and provide insight into
how to best treat them, according to two studies published in the November issue of The
Journal of Nuclear Medicine. By using positron emission tomography (PET)—a
noninvasive molecular imaging technique—researchers were to able to identify
neuroinflammation, which is marked by activated microglia cells (brain cells that are
responsive to injury or infection of brain tissue) in patients with schizophrenia and in
animal models with migraines. Although neuroinflammation has been shown to play a major
role in many neurodegenerative disorders––such as multiple sclerosis,
Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease––only limited data exists
about the role of neuroinflammation in schizophrenia and migraines. The two studies in The
Journal of Nuclear Medicine are the first to identify neuroinflammation in specific
regions of the brain—a development which could be used to effectively evaluate the
treatment response to anti-inflammatory drugs and become transformative for diagnosis and
care. “This study shows that molecular imaging can play an important role in better
understanding the processes involving psychiatric and other neurological disorders,”
said Janine Doorduin, M.Sc., a researcher at the University Medical Center Groningen in
the Netherlands and lead author of “Neuroinflammation in Schizophrenia-Related
Psychosis: A PET Study.” Doorduin added: “Without molecular imaging, the only
way to look at inflammation in the brain, as well as other molecular processes, would be
to use post-mortem brains.”
Unraveling swine flu's greater toll
on children
Doctors and researchers believe young people lack immunity to the H1N1 strain because it
has not been seen in a couple of generations.
Upping fiber intake could help
defeat belly fat
Eating just a little bit more fiber could have a big impact in trimming the waistlines of
America's young people, new research shows.
Use of cannabinoids (marijuana)
could help post-traumatic stress disorder patients
Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress
disorder patients. This is exposed in a new study carried out at the Learning and Memory
Lab in the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology. The study, carried out by
research student Eti Ganon-Elazar under the supervision of Dr. Irit Akirav, was published
in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience. In most cases, the result of experiencing a
traumatic event – a car accident or terror attack – is the appearance of medical
and psychological symptoms that affect various functions, but which pass. However, some
10%-30% of people who experience a traumatic event develop post-traumatic stress disorder,
in which the patient continues to suffer stress symptoms for months and even years after
the traumatic event. Symptoms include reawakened trauma, avoidance of anything that could
recall the trauma, and psychological and physiological disturbances. One of the problems
in the course of treating trauma patients is that a person is frequently exposed to
additional stress, which hinders the patient's overcoming the trauma.
USU scientists report major advance
in human antibody therapy against deadly Nipah virus
A collaborative research team from the Uniformed Services University of the Health
Sciences (USU), Australian Animal Health Laboratory and National Cancer Institute, a
component of the National Institutes of Health, reports a major step forward in the
development of an effective therapy against two deadly viruses, Nipah virus and the
related Hendra virus. The results of this finding appear Oct. 30, 2009, in the open access
journal PLoS Pathogens at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1000642.Nipah and Hendra
viruses are found in Pteropid fruit bats (flying foxes) and are characterized by their
recent emergence as agents capable of causing illness and death in domestic animals and
humans. In experiments carried out in ferrets at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory
in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, where there is a high-level safety and security facility
for working with live Nipah and Hendra viruses, the team of researchers demonstrated that
giving an anti-virus human monoclonal antibody therapy after exposure to Nipah virus
protected the animals from disease. "These findings are extremely encouraging and
clearly suggest the potential that a treatment for Hendra virus infection in a similar
manner should be possible, given the very strong cross-reactive activity this antibody has
against Hendra virus," said Deborah Middleton, D.V.M., Ph.D., who directed the animal
experiments at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory. Recent earlier work at the
National Cancer Institute and USU resulted in the discovery and development of a human
monoclonal antibody, m102.4, which could attack a critical component of both the Nipah and
Hendra viruses. Antibodies—proteins found in blood or other bodily fluids of
vertebrates—are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize viruses and
bacteria.
UT Southwestern researchers use
drug-radiation combo to eradicate lung cancer
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have eliminated non-small cell lung (NSCL)
cancer in mice by using an investigative drug called BEZ235 in combination with low-dose
radiation. In a study appearing in the October issue of Cancer Research, UT Southwestern
researchers found that if they administered BEZ235 before they damaged the DNA of tumor
cells with otherwise nontoxic radiation, the drug blocked the pro-survival actions of a
protein called PI3K, which normally springs into action to keep tumor cells alive while
they repair DNA damage. Researchers tested this novel therapeutic strategy in mice
transplanted with NSCL cancers obtained from patients. They found that tumors in the mice
treated with BEZ235 alone were significantly smaller than those in mice not given the
drug. Although the tumors stopped growing, they did not die. By contrast, tumors were
completely eradicated in mice treated with a combination of BEZ235 and radiation.
"These early results suggest that the drug-radiation combination might be an
effective therapy in lung cancer patients," said Dr. Pier Paolo Scaglioni, assistant
professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study.
Vaccination - An Analysis of the
Health Risks
For more than a hundred years, two basic assumptions have been put forth by public health
officials. One is that vaccines are safe. The second is that vaccines are effective for
the conditions for which they're given. The public and our legislators have, by and large,
accepted these assumptions as true, and as a result it is now compulsory in many states
that children have as many as 33 separate inoculations before entering school. Some of
these are given as early as the first few weeks of life.
Vigilant Parents Say They Are Often
Unaware of Marketing Techniques That Draw Teens, Kids
Advertising Industry Says Regulations Effective, but Watchdog Groups Disagree
Want to quit? Don't go to light
smokes, study finds
Smokers who switch to a low-tar, light or mild brand of cigarette will not find it easier
to quit and in fact may find it harder, researchers reported on Tuesday.
Wanted for Mass Murder - Barack
Obama, Dr Margaret Chan, & Dr Thomas R. Frieden
This is an extremely important article. It states that former Secret Service agent turned
bioweapons "expert" Marc S Griswold, was ordered by
Indonesian-Imposter-Posing-as-US-President Barack Obama, to transport a vial of the
bio-weaponized H1N1 germs (from the Army's Fort Detrick, MD lab) ABOARD Air Force One when
Obama (along with Marc Griswold and Energy Secretary Steven Chu) made an UNSCHEDULED trip
to Mexico on April 16, 2009 for a "working dinner" with officials of the Mexican
government. Upon Griswold's return to Texas on April 18, 2009, he (and later his family)
began to experience the nation's FIRST symptoms of "Swine flu" 'pandemic' ...Ken
Adachi
Weight Training Boosts Breast
Cancer Survivors’ Body Image and Satisfaction with Intimate Relationships, Penn Study
Shows
In addition to building muscle, weightlifting is also a prescription for self-esteem among
breast cancer survivors, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
research. Breast cancer survivors who lift weights regularly feel better about bodies and
their appearance and are more satisfied with their intimate relationships compared with
survivors who do not lift weights, according to a new study published in the journal
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Survivors’ self-perceptions improved with
weight lifting regardless of how much strength they gained during the year-long study, or
whether they suffered from lymphedema, an incurable and sometimes debilitating side effect
of breast surgery. “It looks like weight training is not only safe and may make
lymphedema flare ups less frequent, but it also seems help women feel better about their
bodies,” says senior author Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of
Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a member of Penn's Abramson Cancer Center. “The
results suggest that the act of spending time with your body was the thing that was
important –– not the physical results of strength.”
What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your
Body
Soda, pop, cola, soft drink — whatever you call it, it is one of the worst beverages
that you could be drinking for your health.
Why are fat people abused?
Shouted at, spat at and even attacked, overweight people are campaigning for laws to
protect them. Why is "fattism" seen by many as an acceptable prejudice?
Why are women predisposed to
autoimmune rheumatic diseases?
n the current issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Jacqueline Oliver and Alan Silman
explore the various factors that influence susceptibility to the major autoimmune
connective tissue disorders, in search for an explanation for the high female-to-male
predisposition ratio. Autoimmune diseases of all organ sites and systems affect
approximately 8% of the population, around 78% of whom are women. The majority of studies
into this female predominance have focused on examining the affect of hormonal
fluctuations on disease risk. Oliver and Silman provide a detailed review of these
hormonal influences, as well as genetics and gender differences in lifestyle factors,
focusing on rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma. The
authors convey the complexity of autoimmune disease susceptibility and the need for
further studies to disentangle the many contributing factors.
Why Do Pharmas Call Themselves
Biotechs?
There's a particularly annoying trend in the drug business whereby companies that aren't
in the biological manufacturing business refer to themselves as Biotechs.
Why do psychologists reject
science?
Psychologists led by Timothy B. Baker of the University of Wisconsin charge that many
clinicians fail to "use the interventions for which there is the strongest evidence
of efficacy" and "give more weight to their personal experiences than to
science.
Why Fish Oils Help With Conditions
Like Rheumatoid Arthritis How They Could Help Even More
New research from Queen Mary, University of London and Harvard Medical School has revealed
precisely why taking fish oils can help with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Widespread Chemicals May Affect
Cholesterol Levels
A study published November 2, 2009 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal
Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) suggests that polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) may
affect serum cholesterol levels in people.
Working with poultry linked to
certain cancers
Poultry workers may be at particularly high risk of developing several forms of cancer,
according to a new study that points to viruses carried by birds as a possible cause.
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