|
Headlines added February 13, 2006
The smoking gun: Elastin fragments drive
emphysema
Journal of Clinical Investigation | EurekAlert!
Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts have prevented
emphysema in mice exposed to cigarette smoke by treating them with an
antibody against lung elastin fragments. The fragments result from the
lung-damaging activity of special enzymes called elastases, and stimulate
migration of inflammatory cells into the lung. The study, which appears in
the March issue of the JCI, suggests that blocking these chemotactic
products of elastase activity can reduce inflammation and emphysema in
smokers. 2/8/2006
Read
whole story
No pacemakers in the brain may explain cot
death
University of Bristol | EurekAlert!
A failure to 'gasp' has long been proposed as the basis for sudden infant
death syndrome, or cot death. A team at the University of Bristol has
discovered a subset of cells in the brain that have the ability to
self-generate nervous impulses, which appear essential for gasping. These
cells have been termed 'pacemakers.' 2/11/2006
Read whole story
Headlines added
earlier
Forgetfulness may really be
drug side effect
Boston Globe
AGING Cognitive impairment in older people often diagnosed as Alzheimer's
disease may actually be caused by overuse of drugs commonly prescribed for
hypertension, arrhythmia, incontinence, and Parkinson's disease. In high
doses, these and similar classes of drugs can have so-called
anticholinergic effects, inhibiting the central and peripheral nervous
systems, causing such problems as short-term memory loss, incoherent
speech, and an ... 2/6/2006
Read whole story
Dogs succeed in diagnosing
cancer
LInda Goldston | Boston Globe
SAN ANSELMO, Calif. -- Researchers in California have trained dogs to
detect lung and breast cancer in breath samples from people with 88 to 99
percent accuracy, according to a new study.
2/6/2006
Read whole story
Journal article validates the coming of age
of hair replacement surgery
Hair Sciences Center | EurekAlert!
More than half of all men and one third of all women in the United States
are going bald. But in the past, hair transplantation procedures were not
designed for everyone. Now, new technology has arrived to give all
patients a shot at "good hair," according to a new study published in the
January 2006 issue of Dermatologic Surgery by James Harris, M.D., of the
Hair Sciences Center of Colorado. 2/5/2006
Read whole story
One in 14 men having a heart attack drive
themselves to hospital
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. | EurekAlert!
7 percent of men having a heart attack drive themselves to hospital, while
women take an average of 14 hours - five times as long as men - to go to
hospital emergency departments after symptoms first appear. The worrying
findings are revealed in a study of 890 patients published in the latest
Journal of Advanced Nursing... 2/5/2006
Read whole story
Genetic link to Parkinson's
found
Rick Weiss | Boston Globe
Researchers have identified a single genetic mutation that accounts for
more than 20 percent of all cases of Parkinson's disease among Arabs,
North Africans, and Jews -- a big surprise for a major disease in which
genetics was thought to play a relatively minor role. by
Rick Weiss, Washington Post on 1/30/2006
Read whole story
Memory problems at menopause: Nothing to
forget about
University of Rochester Medical Center | EurekAlert!
Women who feel that they become more forgetful as menopause approaches
shouldn't just "fuhgetabout it": There may be something to their own
widespread reports that they're more likely to forget things as menopause
approaches, say scientists who found a link between complaints of
forgetfulness and the way middle-aged, stressed women learn or "encode"
new information. 2/2/2006
Read whole story
Partner proteins may help estrogen foster
breast cancer
Ohio State University | EurekAlert!
A new study suggests that the hormone estrogen works in partnership with
other proteins to activate or suppress gene activity in breast cancer
cells. Surprisingly, one of the partner proteins is known as c-MYC, a gene
activator that has long been associated with cancer development but was
not known to interact with estrogen during tumor progression. 2/1/2006
Read whole story
Molecular force field helps cancer cells
defend against attack
University of Florida | EurekAlert!
Cancer cells churn out an enzyme that bonds with a protein, creating a
protective barrier that deflects damage from radiation or chemotherapy and
promotes tumor cell survival. But in laboratory experiments, University of
Florida scientists were able to block the union, and the malignant cells
died. 1/31/2006
Read whole story
Scientists discover genetic profile of an
often-misdiagnosed chronic allergic disease of children
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | EurekAlert!
Though many parents may never have heard of it, a severe and chronic
condition called eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is recognized by doctors as
an emerging health problem for children. A disease that was often
misdiagnosed in the past, EE has been increasingly recognized in the
United States, Europe, Canada and Japan in the last few years. Cases of
the disease can be devastating since children who suffer from it may have
a host of lifelong problems. 1/31/2006
Read whole story
Two-drug treatment may block source of
asthma and chronic bronchitis
Washington University School of Medicine | EurekAlert!
Current treatments for asthma and chronic bronchitis aren't able to
address the ultimate source of the problem -- they can only alleviate
symptoms. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in
St. Louis have gone to the root of these disorders and found a two-drug
treatment that could potentially restore patients' troubled airways to
healthy function. 1/31/2006
Read whole story
Gene discovery linked to increasingly
diagnosed gastrointestinal disease
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center | EurekAlert!
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have
discovered the first gene associated with eosinophilic esophagitis, one of
a number of eosinophil-related diseases in which the body produces
abnormally large amounts of white blood cells that can lead to allergy
related illnesses. In eosinophilic esophagitis, the esophagus is
overwhelmed with white blood cells and as a result patients of all ages
develop symptoms that mimic illnesses such as gastroesophageal reflux
disease, food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease. 1/31/2006
Read whole story
Genetic cause of sudden infant death in
African Americans
Journal of Clinical Investigation | EurekAlert!
Researchers from Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, report a 24-fold
increased risk of SIDS in African American infants with a mutant heart
protein known as S1103Y SCN5A. Under acidic conditions (like those caused
by low oxygen levels resulting from a "face-down" sleeping position), this
protein malfunctions in a way known to trigger irregular heartbeats. The
study, appearing in the February issue of the JCI, suggests a causal
relationship between genes and the environment in SIDS. 1/31/2006
Read whole story
Asthmatic children in multi-family housing
hit by indoor nitrogen dioxide
American Thoracic Society | EurekAlert!
Children with asthma living in multi-family housing who are exposed to
certain levels of indoor nitrogen dioxide, a poisonous pollutant byproduct
of gas cooking stoves and unvented heaters, are more likely to experience
wheeze, persistent cough, shortness of breath and chest tightness. 1/31/2006
Read whole story
Protein holds back growth of head and neck
tumors
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center | EurekAlert!
A protein associated with the growth of head and neck tumors may serve as
a tumor suppressor that could prevent the spread of cancer when it is
expressed above normal levels, according to a study published in the Feb.
1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The University of
Pittsburgh study is the first to discover that the protein, STAT1, may
play a vital role in preventing head and neck tumor growth. 1/30/2006
Read whole story
Life-threatening lupus responds to stem
cell transplant therapy
Northwestern Memorial Hospital | EurekAlert!
Transplanting patients with blood stem cells that originate from their own
bone marrow can induce the remission of life-threatening,
treatment-resistant lupus, according to a study that took place at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Researchers found that 50
percent of the 50 patients in the study had disease-free survival at five
years with an overall five-year survival rate of 84 percent. The study is
published in the February 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association. 1/30/2006
Read whole story
Pollution puts fat rats at heart attack
risk
University of Alberta | EurekAlert!
Obese individuals at risk of diabetes are in danger of cardiovascular
events, such as heart attacks, when exposed to pollution from diesel
exhaust or power plant emissions, says a University of Alberta researcher
who is sounding the alarm in a study offering the first direct proof of
that relationship. 1/29/2006
Read whole story
Yale findings hold promise for stopping
progression of bipolar disorder
Yale University | EurekAlert!
Changes in the brain that are important indicators of bipolar disorder are
not prominent until young adulthood and are reduced in persons taking
mood-stabilizing medications. 1/29/2006
Read whole story
Hope for arthritis stems from within
University of Leeds | EurekAlert!
Leeds bioengineers have developed an innovative technique for cartilage
repair combining the self-healing powers of the body with stem cell
science to help young people avoid debilitating knee problems and give
hope to arthritis sufferers. 1/29/2006
Read whole story
Using statins to potentially treat
rheumatoid arthritis
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | EurekAlert!
A study examined whether statins are able to induce apoptosis in synovial
cells of patients with RA and found that they have potential as a novel
way of treating the disease. 1/29/2006
Read whole story
No raised cancer risk from
mobile phones: study
Patricia Reaney | Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - Using a mobile phone does not increase the risk of
developing the most common type of brain tumor, according to a study on
Friday.
After a four-year survey, scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research
in London and three British universities found no link between regular,
long-term use of cell phones and glioma.
"Overall, we found no raised risk of glioma associated with regular mobile
phone use and no association with time since first use, lifetime years of
use, cumulative hours of use, or number of calls," said Professor Patricia
McKinney, of the University of Leeds, in a report in the British Medical
Journal. 1/25/2006
Read whole story
3D structure of HIV is
'revealed'
BBC News
The three-dimensional structure of the HIV virus has been revealed for the
first time, scientists say.
The variable size and shape of HIV has made
it hard to map, the team said in the journal Structure.
So the UK-German team took hundreds of images of viruses, that are 60
times smaller than red blood cells, and used a computer program to combine
them.
Oxford University's Professor Stephen Fuller said the 3D map would assist
in understanding how the virus grows.
1/24/2006
Read whole story
NFL players show more rapid recovery from
concussions than high school players
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center | EurekAlert!
NFL players showed quicker recovery from concussions than high school
players in a research study by the NFL's Committee on Mild Traumatic Brain
Injury, the results of which will be published in the February issue of
the scientific journal Neurosurgery.The study is the first to provide
direct comparison of neurocognitive recovery in professional and younger
athletes, within days of concussion occurrence, by using ImPACT a
computerized neurocognitive testing tool. 1/22/2006
Read whole story
Antibiotic eardrops better than pills at
treating middle ear infections
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | EurekAlert!
Topical quinolone antibiotics can clear aural discharge better than
systemic antibiotics.
Chronically discharging ears associated with
underlying persistent eardrum perforations (chronic suppurative otits
media (CSOM)) are a common cause of preventable hearing impairment,
particularly in low and middle income countries.
The disease usually occurs in the first five years of life, but may
persist to adulthood. Untreated CSOM may cause permanent hearing loss as
the small sound-transmitting bones in the middle ear become damaged. When
it occurs in children, the reduction in hearing can also impair language
development and the acquisition of speech.
1/23/2006
Read whole story
Cause of ongoing pain discovered
University of Bristol | EurekAlert!
New research from the University of Bristol, UK, shows that it is
undamaged nerve fibres that cause ongoing spontaneous pain, not those that
are injured. This new understanding may help pharmaceutical companies
formulate novel pain killers.
Previous research into ongoing chronic pain has tended to focus on the
damaged nerve fibres after injury or disease and overlooked the intact
fibres. This new understanding may help pharmaceutical companies formulate
novel pain killers.
Professor Lawson said: "The cause of this ongoing pain and why it arises
spontaneously was not understood before. Now that we know the type of
nerve fibres involved, and especially that it is the undamaged fibres that
cause this pain, we can examine them to find out what causes them to
continually send impulses to the brain. This should help in the search for
new analgesics that are effective for controlling ongoing pain."
1/23/2006
Read whole story
HIV prevention hope: Yogurt bugs that make
antiviral drugs
Brown University | EurekAlert!
Researchers have come up with a novel delivery system for anti-AIDS drugs:
milk-curdling bacteria used to make yogurt and cheese.
"We've found that you can engineer these bugs to secrete drugs – in this
case, a viricide that disables HIV," said Bharat Ramratnam, assistant
professor of medicine at Brown Medical School and attending physician at
Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital. "The hope is to use the
bacteria as the basis for a microbicide which can prevent sexual
transmission of HIV."
Ramratnam oversaw the bug-to-drug experiments conducted by an
international team of scientists who recently published their results in
the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Ramratnam hatched the idea a few years ago after reading about an
intriguing discovery: A protein called cynovirin binds to HIV and prevents
it from entering cells in the mucous membranes – a feat confirmed in both
laboratory and animal studies. Ramratnam was already familiar with lactic
acid bacteria, or LAB. They help make fermented foods such as yogurt and
cheese by turning carbohydrates into lactic acid. LAB are also known for
their "promiscuity," or the ability to accept foreign DNA, then produce
proteins called for in these new genetic recipes.
1/23/2006
Read whole story
Diabetes complications rooted in faulty
cell repair
University of Florida | EurekAlert!
University of Florida researchers say primitive cells that act like
molecular maintenance men - traveling throughout the body to repair
damaged blood vessels - become too rigid to move in patients with
diabetes, fueling the disease's vascular complications. But they have
found a way to restore the cells' flexibility, at least in the laboratory,
according to findings published in the January issue of the journal
Diabetes.
Having diabetes markedly raises the risk of developing a host of other
ailments, from heart disease to stroke, blindness and kidney failure. Many
arise after blood vessels suffer damage, spurring the accumulation of
fatty deposits in the arteries or the wild, blinding growth of capillaries
in the eye.
1/23/2006
Read whole story
Treatment of Down syndrome in mice restores
nerve growth in cerebellum
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes | EurekAlert!
Researchers at Johns Hopkins restored the normal growth of specific nerve
cells in the cerebellum of mouse models of Down syndrome that were stunted
by this genetic condition. The cerebellum is the rear, lower part of the
brain that controls signals from the muscles to coordinate balance and
motor learning.
The finding is important, investigators say, because the cells rescued by
this treatment represent potential targets for future therapy in human
babies with DS. And it suggests that similar success for other DS-related
disruptions of brain growth, such as occurs in the hippocampus, could lead
to additional treatments - perhaps prenatally - that restore memory and
the ability to orient oneself in space.
DS is caused by an extra chromosome 21, a condition called trisomy - a
third copy of a chromosome in addition to the normal two copies. Children
with DS have a variety of abnormalities, such as slowed growth, abnormal
facial features and mental retardation. The brain is always small and has
a greatly reduced number of neurons.
1/23/2006
Read whole story
Use your brain, halve your risk of dementia
University of New South Wales | EurekAlert!
Research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) provides the most
convincing evidence to date that complex mental activity across people's
lives significantly reduces the risk of dementia. The researchers found
that such activity almost halves the incidence of dementia. 1/24/2006
Read whole story
Researchers find effective, cheap treatment
for cystic fibrosis lung disease
University of North Carolina School of Medicine | EurekAlert!
Working half a world away from each other, two teams of medical scientists
have identified what they believe is a simple, effective and inexpensive
treatment to reduce lung problems associated with cystic fibrosis, the
leading fatal genetic illness among whites.
The new therapy, identified through studies
supported chiefly by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, also appears to be safe and easy to take.
By inhaling a saltwater aerosol solution almost twice as salty as the
Atlantic Ocean for between 10 and 15 minutes at least twice a day, young
patients should be able to avoid a significant part of the damage the
disease causes to their lungs, the researchers said. That's because the
aerosolized saltwater restores the thin lubricant layer of water that
normally coats airway surfaces. This water layer promotes the clearance of
the naturally occurring mucus the body uses to trap harmful bacteria,
viruses and other foreign particles.
1/17/2006
Read whole story
Researchers at Barrow Neurological
Institute resolve 40-year eye movement, visibility controversy
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center | EurekAlert!
For more than 40 years, a scientific controversy has raged over whether
microsaccades, rapid eye movements that occur when a person's gaze is
fixated, are responsible for visibility. Research conducted at Barrow
Neurological Institute in Phoenix has recently resolved the debate,
establishing that microsaccades are indeed responsible for driving 80
percent of our visual experience.
Even when eyes are fixated carefully on an object, they continue to make
tiny movements called fixational eye movements. These movements cause
nearly constant stimulation of the retina. "If our eye was perfectly still
during fixation, the world would quickly fade from view due to the fact
that the neurons in our eyes and brain quickly adapt to non-changing
stimulation," said lead researcher Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde.
1/17/2006
Read whole story
Aspirin reduces the risk of cardiovascular
events, though effects differ between men and women
JAMA and Archives Journals | EurekAlert!
An analysis of previous studies indicates that use of aspirin
significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in women and in
men, due to reducing the risk of stroke in women and reducing the risk of
heart attack in men, according to a study in the January 18 issue of JAMA.
Although the benefits of aspirin therapy for reducing the risk of heart
attack (myocardial infarction – MI), stroke, and vascular death among men
and women with preexisting cardiovascular disease are well established,
the role of aspirin in primary prevention is less clear, according to
background information in the article. And it has not been clear if there
is a differential beneficial effect between men and women.
1/16/2006
Read whole story
Study links Alzheimer's disease to abnormal
cell division
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | EurekAlert!
A new study in mice suggests that Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be
triggered when adult neurons try to divide. The finding helps researchers
understand what goes wrong in the disease and may lead to new ways of
treating it.
For unknown reasons, nerve cells (neurons) affected by AD and many other
neurodegenerative diseases often start to divide before they die. The new
study shows that, in animal models of AD, this abnormal cell division
starts long before amyloid plaques or other markers of the disease appear.
Cell division occurs through a process called the cell cycle. "If you
could stop cell cycling, you might be able to stop neurons from dying
prematurely. This could be a fresh approach to therapy for Alzheimer's and
other diseases, including stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [also
known as Lou Gehrig's disease], and HIV dementia," says Karl Herrup,
Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who led the study.
1/16/2006
Read whole story
Darkness unveils vital metabolic fuel
switch between sugar and fat
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston | EurekAlert!
University of Texas Medical School at Houston research team finds that
constant darkness can regulate metabolism. The key molecule in this
process, which switches most of the body's energy consumption from glucose
to fat, is an interesting new target for diabetes and obesity research.
Constant darkness throws a molecular switch
in mammals that shifts the body's fuel consumption from glucose to fat and
induces a state of torpor in mice, a research team led by scientists at
The University of Texas Medical School at Houston reports in the Jan. 19
edition of Nature.
While their findings could provide new insight into mammalian hibernation,
researchers note that the pivotal metabolic signal that emerged from the
dark also presents a new target for obesity and type 2 diabetes research.
A series of experiments pinpointed 5-prime adenosine monophosphate
(5'-AMP) as the key molecular mediator of the constant darkness effect,
switching mice from a glucose-burning, fat-storing state to a fat-burning,
glucose-conserving lethargy.
1/17/2006
Read whole story
Absence of critical protein linked to
infertility
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | EurekAlert!
The absence of a key protein may lead to infertility. Researchers at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that the transcription
factor protein C/EBPb must be present in the uterus for pregnancy to
occur.
Without it, they say, an embryo cannot survive in uterine tissue or attach
to a mother's blood supply. Other genes also play roles, but C/EBPb is
critical for implantation of an embryo, said Milan K. Bagchi, a professor
of molecular and integrative physiology.
1/15/2006
Read whole story
Regular exercise reduces risk for dementia
and Alzheimer's disease by 30 to 40 percent, new study finds
American College of Physicians
A new study finds that older adults who exercised three or more times a
week had a 30 percent to 40 percent lower risk for developing dementia
compared with those who exercised fewer than three times per week. The
study also found that people who already suffer from some signs of
dementia benefit from exercise. The study is published in the Jan. 17,
2006, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. 1/15/2006
Read whole story
Comedy films boost blood flow to the heart
BMJ Specialty Journals | EurekAlert!
Watching comedy films boosts blood flow to the heart, finds a small study
in the journal Heart.
Researchers asked 20 healthy young adults to watch 15 to 30 minute
segments of sad and humorous films, a minimum of 48 hours apart.
Examples of sad films included the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan
and examples of comedy films included There's Something About Mary.
1/15/2006
Read whole story
Nurses' research proves mother knows best
when taking temp
University of Virginia Health System | EurekAlert!
According to recent research by nurses at the University of Virginia
Health System, your mother was always right when she told you not to eat
or drink anything before taking your temperature. On average, study
participants consuming cold beverages required 15 minutes for their
temperature to return to baseline, while those consuming hot beverages
returned to baseline after 23 minutes.
"Taking an accurate temperature is one of the
most basic, yet at times complicated, pieces of data that we can collect
to monitor our health and the health of our loved ones," said research
project coordinator Beth Quatrara, RN, MSN, APRN.
With cold and flu season upon us, this change in practice could not only
apply to patients in a hospital setting, but to parents tending to sick
children. To get the most accurate temperature reading as possible,
Quatrara suggests not participating in any activities that may change body
or mouth temperature, such as exercise, smoking or chewing gum.
1/16/2006
Read whole story
Patients now surviving once-fatal immune
disease
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | EurekAlert!
Individuals who have a rare genetic immune system disorder that prevents
them from making antibodies nevertheless appear to be moderately healthy
and lead productive lives, according to results of a study by
investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A report on this
study appears in the current online edition of Clinical Immunology.
The study of 41 adults with X-linked
agammaglobulinemia (XLA) showed that they can function as relatively
healthy, productive individuals, even though they remain vulnerable to
chronic, low-grade infections. These individuals had a mean age of 4 years
(range 1 month to 53 years) when their diseases were diagnosed; and 27 of
the patients had family histories of XLA. The study was based on results
of a questionnaire filled out by each participant concerning current and
past medical problems and quality of life.
"Until we did this study, there was almost nothing in the medical
literature about adults with XLA," said Mary Ellen Conley, M.D., a member
of the Department of Immunology at St. Jude and senior author of the
report. "In fact, old reports we read stated that the vast majority of
these patients have chronic lung disease by age 15. We and other
physicians were quite surprised at how well these patients are doing with
the proper care."
1/12/2006
Read whole story
UCSD team unmasks family of immune system
invaders
University of California - San Diego | EurekAlert
Like a family of petty criminals gone wrong, researchers at (UCSD) were
surprised to find that bacterial pathogens found in a number of
troublesome diseases are actually related. Not only that, their
wrong-doing is carried out by disguising themselves, then hijacking their
hosts.
Jack E. Dixon, Ph.D., Dean for Scientific Affairs and Professor of
Pharmacology and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the UCSD School of
Medicine; Neal M. Alto, Ph.D., UCSD postdoctoral fellow and lead author,
and their colleagues have identified a 24-member family of bacterial
proteins. Called effector proteins, they are found in bacteria, including
Salmonella, Shigella and pathogenic E. coli, that cause gastrointestinal
diseases.
These proteins help bacteria do their job of
infecting the host by warding off the body's immune system. The UCSD
researchers discovered how the effector proteins are able to "hijack" the
body's communication network, findings that could lead novel ways to fight
bacterial disease.
1/11/2006
Read whole story
St. Jude projects 90 percent cure rate for
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | EurekAlert!
The cure rate for the once almost universally fatal childhood cancer acute
lymphoblastic leukemia could reach 90 percent in the near future, thanks
to improvements in diagnosis and treatment over the past four decades,
according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Almost 4,000 cases of ALL are diagnosed in the United States each
year, about two-thirds of which are in children and adolescents, making
this disease the most common cancer in this age group.
The progressive improvement in the cure rate
since 1962, when only 4 percent of children with ALL survived, reflects in
large part the more effective use of existing drugs and the incorporation
of sophisticated genetic technologies to personalize treatments, the
authors said. Research findings at St. Jude have enabled clinicians to
identify patients for whom standard treatment is most likely to fail, and
who should therefore be treated more aggressively; these findings have
also allowed clinicians to choose the optimal drugs and drug dosages for
individual patients. 1/10/2006
Read whole story
Health seriously declines, disparities
increase as youths become adults
University of North Carolina School of Medicine | EurekAlert!
Can becoming an adult be hazardous to your health? A new study from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Carolina Population Center
indicates that may be the case, with leading health indicators showing
serious declines as adolescents become adults.
A survey involving an ethnically diverse and nationally representative
sample of 14,000 young people found diet, inactivity, obesity, health-care
access, substance use and reproductive health to worsen with age. Only
self-perceptions of personal health, including mental health, and exposure
to violence improved with age.
1/10/2006
Read whole story
Polymer aids in blood clotting, pointing
way to new treatment
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | EurekAlert!
A serendipitous comparison prompted by an old scientific image and
involving an ancient but understudied molecule may lead to a new treatment
strategy for injuries or illnesses in which blood clotting is paramount to
survival.
In a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and the University of Georgia report that a linear polymer known as
polyphosphate speeds blood clotting and helps clots last longer. The paper
appears online this week (Jan. 9-14) on the PNAS Web site.
Polyphosphate was shown to have three important roles, said James H.
Morrissey, a biochemist in the U. of I. College of Medicine at
Urbana-Champaign. The inorganic compound accelerates two parts of the
coagulation cascade -- the contact-activation pathway and factor V, a
protein that forms thrombin -- leading to fibrin and clots. Finally, he
said, polyphosphate delays the breakdown of clots, which causes renewed
bleeding.
"The net effect is accelerating the rate at which blood clots form and
then prolonging how long they last," Morrissey said. 1/8/2006
Read whole story
Plant-derived vaccines safeguard against
deadly plague
Arizona State University | EurekAlert!
Through an innovative feat of plant biotechnology and vaccine design,
researchers in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have
successfully turned tobacco plants into vaccine production factories to
combat the deadliest form of plague. The vaccine elicits a protective
immune response in guinea pigs. The results are considered to be a
milestone in the future development of a new vaccine for human use.
Plague, caused by a rod-shaped bacterium called Yersinia pestis, no longer
invokes the "black death" feared throughout history, having been widely
tamed since the advent of antibiotics. But a new concern has emerged in
recent years with respect to bioterrorism.
"There have been discovered some resistant strains to antibiotics and that
poses a concern, especially if plague would be used as a bioweapon," said
Luca Santi, a research assistant professor at the institute and lead
author of the study published in the early online edition of the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "A new vaccine approach
would be the best way to prevent infection."
1/8/2006
Read whole story
Trusted head injury prevention technique
debunked
Temple University | EurekAlert!
Contrary to popular thinking in athletics, traditional neck muscle
resistance training may not protect athletes from head injuries.
For eight weeks, kinesiologists at Temple University worked with male and
female Division I intercollegiate soccer players to see if a resistance
training program would reduce the player's head acceleration during
impact. According to Ryan Tierney PhD, director of Temple's Graduate
Athletic Training Program, head impacts experienced during soccer cause
head acceleration, similar to what a person experiences during a car
crash. These impacts may cause mental impairment or accumulate and lead to
permanent disability.
"We did see a change in the player's neck muscle strength but these
changes made absolutely no difference in their ability to stabilize their
heads when force was applied," said Tierney. 1/8/2006
Read whole story
Tumor cells that border normal tissue are
told to leave
Washington University School of Medicine | EurekAlert!
The thin, single-cell boundary where a tumor meets normal tissue is the
most dangerous part of a cancer according to a new study by scientists at
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers
found that tumor cells bordering normal tissue receive signals that tell
them to wander away from the tumor, allowing the cancer cells to establish
deadly metastatic tumors elsewhere in the body.
The researchers say their discovery demonstrates the importance of the
tumor's environment and shows more precisely how the metastatic process
occurs and might be stopped. Their study appears in the January 10 issue
of Developmental Cell.
"What actually kills in cancer is not the primary tumor--it's metastasis,"
says senior author Ross L. Cagan, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular
biology and pharmacology and a researcher with the Siteman Cancer Center
at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
"You can't study that in a laboratory dish. You have to look at the tumor
cells in their natural environment--surrounded by normal tissues."
1/8/2006
Read whole story
Bad Blood: Diabetes and Its
Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis
N.R. Kleinfield | New York Times
More than one in every eight New Yorkers now have diabetes, and city
health officials describe the problem as an epidemic.
Begin on the sixth floor, third room from the end, swathed in
fluorescence: a 60-year-old woman was having two toes sawed off. One floor
up, corner room: a middle-aged man sprawled, recuperating from a kidney
transplant. Next door: nerve damage. Eighth floor, first room to the left:
stroke. Two doors down: more toes being removed. Next room: a flawed
heart.
As always, the beds at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx were filled
with a universe of afflictions. In truth, these assorted burdens were all
the work of a single illness: diabetes. Room after room, floor after
floor, diabetes. On any given day, hospital officials say, nearly half the
patients are there for some trouble precipitated by the disease.
An estimated 800,000 adult New Yorkers - more than one in every eight -
now have diabetes, and city health officials describe the problem as a
bona fide epidemic. 1/8/2006
Read whole story
SUVs may be no safer for
children
Boston Globe
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Children are no safer riding in sport utility
vehicles than in passenger cars, largely because the doubled risk of
rollovers in SUVs cancels out the safety advantages of their greater size
and weight, according to a new study.
Researchers said the findings dispel the bigger-equals-safer myth that has
helped fuel the growing popularity of SUVs among families. SUV
registrations climbed 250 percent in the United States between 1995 and
2002.
''We're not saying they're worse or that they're terrible vehicles. We're
challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were
better," said Dr. Dennis Durbin, a pediatric emergency physician who took
part in the study, published last week in the journal Pediatrics.
1/9/2006
Read whole story
Newer football helmet design may reduce
incidence of concussions in high school players
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center | EurekAlert!
Newer football helmet technology and design may reduce the incidence of
concussions in high school football players, according to results from the
first phase of a three-year study by the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center's (UPMC) Sports Medicine Concussion Program.
The current study compared concussion rates and recovery times of high
school athletes wearing newer helmet technology to those wearing helmets
with traditional designs. There was no significant difference in recovery
time between the two helmet groups.
Published in the February issue of the scientific journal Neurosurgery,
the UPMC study of more than 2,000 high school football players is the
first on-the-field investigation to compare concussion rates and recovery
times for high school football players wearing the Riddell® Revolution
helmet, with its newer technology and design, to concussion rates and
recovery times for players wearing standard helmets with traditional
design. 1/9/2006
Read whole story
Dogs keep dying: Many owners
unaware of toxic dog food 1/5/2006
Read whole story
Protein tests to diagnose pet
food-poisoned dogs
1/5/2006
Read whole story
Mysterious condition still more
prevalent among Persian Gulf vets 1/4/2006
Read whole story
Can dogs smell cancer?
1/4/2006
Read whole story
Rotavirus Drugs Deemed Safe and
Effective 1/4/2006
Read whole story
Cancer researchers describe
gene that halts spread of aggressive childhood cancer 1/3/2006
Read whole story
Structure of viral harpoon
protein reveals how viruses enter cells
1/3/2006
Read whole story
NCI issues clinical
announcement for preferred method of treatment for advanced ovarian cancer 1/3/2006
Read whole story
Turkish teenagers die of bird
flu
1/5/2006
Read whole story
Identified: DNA that controls
the malaria parasite's disguise mechanism
1/2/2006
Read whole story
Study: Exercise Helps speed
wound healing in older adults
1/3/2006
Read whole story
Walking three times weekly
slows decline from peripheral artery disease
1/1/2006
Read whole story
Imaging study links key genetic
risk for Alzheimer's disease to myelin breakdown
1/1/2006
Read whole story
HIV vaccine takes different
tack to boosting immune response 1/1/2006
Read whole story
New weapon in battle against
osteoporosis
1/1/2006
Read whole story
Superfluous Medical Studies
Called Into Question
1/1/2006
Read whole story
Radiotherapy advance points way
to noninvasive brain cancer treatment 12/31/2005
Read whole story
p53, tumor suppression and
aging 12/30/2005
Read whole story
Misdosing common for powerful anti-clotting drugs 12/26/2005
Read whole story
Slowdown reported in US health gains 12/26/2005
Read whole story
A
Deadly Threat to Hearts of Young, Healthy Athletes
12/26/2005
Read whole story
Preventing Cancer: Slowly, Cancer Genes Tender Their Secrets
12/26/2005
Read whole story
Role
of microRNA identified in thyroid cancer
12/21/2005
Read
whole story
Deadly
fungus gene code cracked
12/21/2005
Read whole story
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