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The 21st century - time to wake
up….
Cancer to be the leading cause of death in
2010 through deadly cocktail of toxins ? We destroy our lungs with cigarettes, feed our
kids fast sugars. trans fats, salt, artificial flavors and colors, chemical sugars,
vaccines, etc. Then we wonder how it is that an increasing percentage of the population
develops chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, cancer, food intolerances,
skin problems and bowel problems. Mercury in fish and thermometers poses a problem for
most, but in tooth fillings or flu shots it doesn't seem to be a problem. Where's the
logic in that? We have the same ambivalence about antibiotics, the 'wonder drug' for
bacterial infections but also the great killer of your intestinal flora. Never mind that
friendly gut bacteria play a crucial role in maintaining long-term health. According to
ancient Chinese wisdom death resides in the bowels.
Read
full introduction article here
Ron Fonteine
News - Week 27 - 2009
Antibiotics Take Toll on Beneficial
Microbes in Gut
It’s common knowledge that a protective navy of bacteria normally floats in our
intestinal tracts. Antibiotics at least temporarily disturb the normal balance. But
it’s unclear which antibiotics are the most disruptive, and if the full array of
“good bacteria” return promptly or remain altered for some time. In studies in
mice, University of Michigan scientists have shown for the first time that two different
types of antibiotics can cause moderate to wide-ranging changes in the ranks of these
helpful guardians in the gut. In the case of one of the antibiotics, the armada of
“good bacteria” did not recover its former diversity even many weeks after a
course of antibiotics was over. The findings could eventually lead to better choices of
antibiotics to minimize side effects of diarrhea, especially in vulnerable patients. They
could also aid in understanding and treating inflammatory bowel disease, which affects an
estimated 500,000 to 1 million Americans, and Clostridium difficile, a growing and serious
infection problem for hospitals. Normally, a set of thousands of different kinds of
microbes lives in the gut – a distinctive mix for each person, and thought to be
passed on from mother to baby. The microbes, including many different bacteria, aid
digestion and nutrition, appear to help maintain a healthy immune system, and keep order
when harmful microbes invade. “Biodiversity is a well-known concept in the health of
the world’s continents and oceans. Diversity is probably important in the gut
microsystem as well,” says Vincent B. Young, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study,
which appears in the June issue of Infection and Immunity. The study results suggest that
unless medical research discovers how to protect or revitalize the gut microbial
community, “we may be doing long-term damage to our close friends,” says Young,
assistant professor in the departments of internal medicine and microbiology and
immunology at the U-M Medical School.
Bicycle helmet laws key to kids
wearing helmets
Studies have shown wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle reduces one’s risk of
death by more than 50 percent, yet every three days, a child in the United States is
killed while riding a bicycle, and every day at least 100 children are treated in
emergency rooms due to bicycle-related head injuries. A report released today by the
University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s
Health reveals that in areas where no bicycle helmet laws exist, nearly one-half of
children, ages 4 – 17, never wear a helmet. “These statistics underscore the
importance of helmet laws to help prevent death and injury from children not wearing
helmets while riding their bikes,” says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., director of the
National Poll on Children’s Health. “Yet only twenty one states have helmet use
laws for children.”
Sleep treatments improve fatigue
and tiredness
It may seem like common sense, but a good night’s sleep could be the answer to
getting energy back, according to a study at the University of Michigan Sleep Disorders
Center. Patients with complaints of fatigue, tiredness or lack of energy improved with
nightly use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or related devices that are
often prescribed for those with obstructive sleep apnea, according to the study published
in this week’s issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. “Many physicians
and patients assume that while complaints of daytime sleepiness may indicate a sleep
disorder, complaints of fatigue, tiredness or lack of energy must be caused by some other
medical or psychiatric problem,” says senior author Ronald D. Chervin, M.D., M.S.,
Director of the U-M Sleep Disorders Center and Michael S. Aldrich Collegiate Professor of
Sleep Medicine in the Department of Neurology at the U-M Medical School.
Fewer Injuries to Mothers and
Newborns During Childbirth but More Could be Prevented
Injuries to mothers during childbirth decreased significantly between 2000 and 2006,
according to the latest news and numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality. The number of mothers who experienced injuries while giving birth vaginally
without the use of forceps or other instruments dropped by 30 percent. For mothers giving
birth vaginally with the use of instruments and by cesarean section, injuries declined
about 20 percent. Despite the declines, nearly 158,000 potentially preventable injuries
occurred to mothers and infants during childbirth in U.S. hospitals in 2006.
No Proof Found That Genetic Testing
Helps Prevent Blood Clots
According to a new report by the Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), there is insufficient evidence to conclude
that genetic testing for two gene mutations in adults with a history of blood clots helps
to prevent a condition known as deep-vein thrombosis or to improve other clinical
outcomes. The report, a summary of which will be published in the June 17 issue of JAMA,
also failed to find any benefit from genetic testing of family members of patients who
have at least one of the two mutations—known as Factor V Leiden (FVL) and prothrombin
G20210A—as well as a history of deep-vein thrombosis. As many as 600,000 Americans
each year may have deep-vein thrombosis—blood clots that form in the legs or pelvis.
The condition occurs most commonly in people who are sedentary for a long period of time,
such as when recovering from surgery or traveling long distances. The true number of
people who develop a pulmonary embolism is unknown, but AHRQ data for hospital patients
show that 258,000 individuals were diagnosed with the condition in 2006, and 20,000 died
as a result. "While genetic testing shows great promise to improve treatment and
prevent disease, this report clearly shows that we need more research and evidence to
achieve its full potential," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "But
people can help reduce their likelihood of developing a blood clot by talking with their
doctor about precautions." The evidence report was requested and supported by the
Office of Public Health Genomics (OPHG) at HHS' Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. The Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention (EGAPP)
Working Group, established by OPHG in 2005, will use this evidence report and other
evidence to make recommendations on the validity and utility of genetic tests for FVL and
prothrombin G20210A. This report, titled Outcomes of Genetic Testing in Adults with a
History of Venous Thromboembolism, is the fifth evidence report requested for EGAPP.
Researchers Conduct Unique Studies
on Childhood Obesity
University of Saskatchewan (U of S) researchers are delving deeper into reasons behind
childhood obesity thanks to $665,000 in grants provided through a partnership involving
the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Rx&D Health Research Foundation and
the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Childhood obesity is a growing concern in North
America and worldwide. Only 21 per cent of Canadian youth meet international guidelines
for physical activity. Should current trends continue, Canada will have a generation of
children growing up with poorer health status than their parents. “We need to address
childhood obesity and other chronic diseases that are taking a toll on the health care
system and on rising costs associated with a sedentary, overweight Canadian
population,” said Karen Chad, U of S Acting Vice-President Research, who is also a
physical activity researcher. “This funding will help our outstanding researchers
better understand childhood obesity and the real reasons behind it.” Today the CIHR
announced $1.9 million for five separate Canadian projects that aim to better understand
eating and exercise behaviours and explore new ways children can avoid obesity or control
it.
The fight against dangerous
chemicals
Chemicals are present in practically everything that we surround ourselves with. We cannot
do without chemicals in modern life, but some chemicals have harmful effects on humans and
on the environment. The Danish EPA assesses chemicals and is involved in laying down the
rules for how they may be used. Lip salves, clothes, computers, cleaning agents, and
teething rings for babies are examples of products containing chemical substances. There
are around 100,000 chemical substances on the EU market and an estimated 20,000 on the
Danish market. The substances serve important functions in products, but some of them are
dangerous, while we are ignorant of the effect of others on humans and the environment.
The Danish EPA is responsible for managing a great number of rules on chemicals. These
rules have been established to avoid health hazards and damage to the environment when the
substances are manufactured, stored, and used. The Danish EPA Chemical Inspection Service
supervises compliance with the legislation. The Danish EPA continually assesses the risk
associated with a number of substances whose effects we are not yet familiar with. This
work is carried out in collaboration with other EU Member States. Any new knowledge is
used, for example, to establish new EU regulation of the quantities of a substance allowed
in certain products. Some substances are so dangerous that they may not be used for
certain purposes. This applies e.g. to lead and substances which deplete the ozone layer.
Other dangerous substances must be labelled by the manufacturer or importer, so that the
consumer can read how the product is to be used safely. These substances and their
labelling requirements are included in the EU list of dangerous substances, which contains
about 8,000 substances and substance groups. A number of substances are undesirable
because they have problematic effects and are used in very large quantities. According to
the Danish EPA's assessment, these substances should be avoided as far as possible and we
have therefore prepared a list of undesirable substances and substance groups. The list is
meant as a guideline which manufacturers, product developers, procurement departments, and
other players can use as part of their efforts to substitute the problematic substances
with less problematic ones.
Johns Hopkins researchers are
investigating a troubling potential source of resistant pathogens - the American farm.
Ellen Silbergeld, Eng '72 (PhD), recalls that she did not want to go to the seminar. She
was a professor of epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1999
when her department's chairman needed an audience for the seminar's presenter, a candidate
for a faculty position. Silbergeld recalls the chairman saying, "Please, just sit in
the room. You can come to lunch." So she sat in the room, and something caught her
attention. The seminar was on hospital-acquired infections, but the presenter mentioned in
passing that some drug-resistant infections came from food. That seemed odd. Silbergeld
knew you could pick up Salmonella from, say, tainted chicken salad. But how would that
Salmonella have become resistant to antibiotics? She turned to a colleague and asked.
Because, he said, factory chicken farms routinely feed antibiotics to their flocks, to
accelerate growth, and the drugs generate resistance.
UGA researchers achieve
breakthrough in effort to develop tiny biological fuel cells
University of Georgia researchers have developed a successful way to grow molecular wire
brushes that conduct electrical charges, a first step in developing biological fuel cells
that could power pacemakers, cochlear implants and prosthetic limbs. The journal Chemical
Science calls the technique "a significant breakthrough for nanotechnology." UGA
chemist Jason Locklin and graduate students Nicholas Marshall and Kyle Sontag grew polymer
brushes, made up of chains of thiophene and benzene, aromatic molecules sometimes used as
solvents, attached to metal surfaces as ultra-thin films. "The molecular wires are
actually polymer chains that have been grown from a metal surface at very high
density," said Locklin, who has a joint appointment in UGA's Franklin College of Arts
and Science and on the Faculty of Engineering. "The structure of the film resembles a
toothbrush, where the chains of conjugated polymers are like the bristles. We call these
types of coatings polymer brushes. To get chains to pack tightly in extended
conformations, they must be grown from the surface, a method we call the 'grafting from'
approach." Using this approach, the scientists laid down a single layer of thiophene
as the film's initial coating, then built up chains of thiophene or benzene using a
controlled polymerization technique. Their research, funded by the Petroleum Research
Foundation, was published in the June issue of the journal, Chemical Communications.
"The beauty of organic semiconductors is how their properties change, based on size
and the number of repeating units," said Locklin, who is a member of UGA's Nanoscale
Science and Engineering Center. Thiophene itself is an insulator, said Locklin, "but
by linking many thiophene molecules together in a controlled fashion, the polymers have
conducting properties." More importantly, he said, "this technique gives us the
control to systematically vary polymer architecture, opening up the possibility for
various uses in electronic devices such as sensors, transistors and diodes." The
ultra-thin films are between 5 and 50 nanometers—too small to see, even under a
high-powered optical microscope.
School of Dentistry Studies Link
Between Oral Health and Memory
Keeping your teeth brushed and flossed can cut down on gum disease, drastically reducing
risk of heart attack and stroke, dentists have warned for years. Now researchers at West
Virginia University have found a clean mouth may also help preserve memory. The National
Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $1.3 million grant over four years to further
build on studies linking gum disease and mild to moderate memory loss. “Older people
might want to know there’s more reason to keep their mouths clean – to brush and
floss – than ever,” said Richard Crout, D.M.D., Ph.D., an expert on gum disease
and associate dean for research in the WVU School of Dentistry. “You’ll not only
be more likely to keep your teeth, but you’ll also reduce your risk of heart attack,
stroke and memory loss.” Crout will share the grant with gerontologist Bei Wu, Ph.D.,
formerly of WVU and now a researcher at the University of North Carolina; Brenda L.
Plassman, Ph.D., of Duke University, a nationally recognized scientist in the field of
memory research, and Jersey Liang, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Michigan. Wu is
the principal investigator. The team will look at health records over many years of
several thousand Americans. “This could have great implications for health of our
aging populations,” Crout said. “With rates of Alzheimer’s skyrocketing,
imagine the benefits of knowing that keeping the mouth free of infection could cut down on
cases of dementia.”
Spinal Cord Stimulation for Pain
Problems May Allow Soldiers to Be Deployed
Electrical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) provides an option for military personnel with
back pain and other chronic pain conditions—in appropriate cases, allowing soldiers
to return to combat and other strenuous duties, according to a study in the July issue of
Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research
Society (IARS). "We present six cases that demonstrate SCS can be a viable option for
motivated patients in a physically and mentally challenging environment," the
researchers write. The lead author was Dr. Anthony Dragovich of Womack Army Medical
Center, Ft. Bragg, N.C. Spinal cord stimulation is an increasingly used option for
patients with back pain or other pain problems of spinal origin that do not respond to
standard treatments. Equipment is surgically implanted to generate electrical current to
the spinal cord, disrupting the nerve signals responsible for perceived pain. Because of
the need for implanted equipment, SCS has generally not been considered a good option for
patients who are physically active.However, the new report suggests that SCS may be useful
in managing the unique medical challenges posed by pain problems in military personnel.
"Due to advances in medical science and the physical and mental fortitude of our
soldiers, many previously career-ending and life-altering disabilities have been
overcome," Dr. Dragovich and co-authors write. "Many soldiers desire to remain
in military service, but unremitting pain is often the last standing hurdle."
Caucasians are at higher risk of
developing Ewing's sarcoma than other races
The largest analysis of its kind has found that Caucasians are much more likely than
people in other racial/ethnic groups to develop a rare bone and soft tissue cancer called
Ewing's sarcoma. In addition, among Caucasians with this cancer, men are more likely to
die than women. Published in the August 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal
of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that examining the gender and racial
differences related to Ewing's sarcoma could provide a better understanding of the disease
and could lead to improved treatments for patients. Ewing's sarcoma has historically been
a difficult cancer to treat, but evolving strategies with various chemotherapy drugs,
surgery, and radiation have improved survival. Limited studies have identified risk
factors for the disease, although it is clear that there are racial differences in
incidence. Patients of various races also differ in how they are affected by the disease
and how they respond to treatment. However, no reports from population-based cancer
registries have verified these observations and no studies have addressed the potential
impact of race on patients' health after they are diagnosed.To get a better sense of
racial differences in a large population of patients with Ewing's sarcoma, researchers led
by Dr. Sean Scully of the University of Miami analyzed patient information from the
National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, the
largest source for cancer statistics in the United States. They identified individuals
diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma from 1973 to 2005 and analyzed various patient- and
cancer-related characteristics.
Study finds cancer is the second
most frequent cause of death in individuals with schizophrenia
People with schizophrenia die from cancer four times as often as people in the general
population. That was the conclusion of a new study published in the August 1, 2009 issue
of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results
suggest that extra efforts should be made to improve cancer prevention and early detection
in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is associated with an increased incidence of
premature death, in part due to a high rate of suicide among individuals with the disease.
However, suicide alone does not account for the shortened life expectancy seen in
schizophrenia patients. Some studies have indicated that cancer mortality may play a role,
but other data suggest that cancer rates are actually lower among individuals with
schizophrenia compared with the general population. To more precisely determine the
prevalence of cancer in patients with schizophrenia, Prof. Frédéric Limosin of the
University of Reims, Robert Debré Hospital, in Reims, France and colleagues prospectively
studied 3,470 patients with schizophrenia and tracked cancer incidence beginning in 1993.
The investigators also sought to identify characteristics that might help predict which
schizophrenic patients are likely to develop cancer.
Children susceptible to pesticides
longer than expected, study finds
Although it is known that infants are more susceptible than adults to the toxic effects of
pesticides, this increased vulnerability may extend much longer into childhood than
expected, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California,
Berkeley. Among newborns, levels of paraoxonase 1 (PON1), an enzyme critical to the
detoxification of organophosphate pesticides, average one-third or less than those of the
babies' mothers. It was thought that PON1 enzyme activity in children approached adult
levels by age 2, but instead, the UC Berkeley researchers found that the enzyme level
remained low in some individuals through age 7. Based upon the findings, reported this
month in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the study authors recommend that
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-evaluate the current standards for
acceptable levels of pesticide exposure. "Current EPA standards of exposure for some
pesticides assume children are 3 to 5 times more susceptible than adults, and for other
pesticides the standards assume no difference," said Nina Holland, UC Berkeley
adjunct professor of environmental health sciences and senior author of the paper.
"Our study is the first to show quantitatively that young children may be more
susceptible to certain organophosphate pesticides up to age 7. Our results suggest that
the EPA standards need to be re-examined to determine if they are adequately protecting
the most vulnerable members of the population." In 2001, the EPA began restricting
organophosphate pesticides in products sold for use in homes, mainly because of risks to
children. However, organophosphate pesticides, such as chlorpyrifos and diazinon, are
still used in agriculture in the United States and elsewhere. The study, conducted by UC
Berkeley's Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS),
involves 458 children from an agricultural region who were followed from birth through age
7. Cord blood samples were collected from all children to determine their PON1 genotype
and to obtain baseline measures of the enzyme's activity level. For more than 100 of the
children in the study, researchers were able to obtain at least four additional
measurements - at ages 1, 2, 5 and 7 - of PON1 activity. Almost all the children in the
study had 2 to 3 time points assessed, for a total of 1,143 measurements of three types of
PON1 enzyme activity.
Researchers To Reveal Aging’s
Origins on Global Stage
Four of the biologists who described the underlying causes of aging will soon share their
findings with an international audience during a symposium at the upcoming World Congress
of Gerontology and Geriatrics, taking place from July 5–9, 2009, in Paris, France.
The presentation, titled “Ageing Is no Longer an Unsolved Problem,” is being
supported by the Ellison Medical Foundation and co-sponsored by The Gerontological Society
of America (GSA). Among the speakers will be former GSA President Leonard Hayflick, PhD, a
professor of anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco. He said that the
accumulation of new insights has made it possible, for the first time, to understand the
biological reasons for the aging of animals and humans. “Aging occurs because the
complex biological molecules of which we are all composed become dysfunctional over time
as the energy necessary to keep them structurally sound diminishes. Thus, our molecules
must be repaired or replaced frequently by our own extensive repair systems,”
Hayflick said.“These repair systems, which are also composed of complex
molecules,” he explained, “eventually suffer the same molecular dysfunction. The
time when the balance shifts in favor of the accumulation of dysfunctional molecules is
determined by natural selection — and leads to the manifestation of age changes that
we recognize are characteristic of an old person or animal. It must occur after both reach
reproductive maturity, otherwise the species would vanish.” Hayflick also noted that
these repair and maintenance systems are called “determinants of longevity,”
which is a phenomenon different from the aging process itself.
Competition May Be Reason For
Bigger Brain
For the past 2 million years, the size of the human brain has tripled, growing much faster
than other mammals. Examining the reasons for human brain expansion, University of
Missouri researchers studied three common hypotheses for brain growth: climate change,
ecological demands and social competition. The team found that social competition is the
major cause of increased cranial capacity. To test the three hypotheses, MU researchers
collected data from 153 hominid (humans and our ancestors) skulls from the past 2 million
years. Examining the locations and global climate changes at the time the fossil was
dated, the number of parasites in the region and estimated population density in the areas
where the skulls were found, the researchers discovered that population density had the
biggest effect on skull size and thus cranial capacity. "Our findings suggest brain
size increases the most in areas with larger populations and this almost certainly
increased the intensity of social competition," said David Geary, Curator's Professor
and Thomas Jefferson Professor of Psychosocial Sciences in the MU College of Arts and
Science. "When humans had to compete for necessities and social status, which allowed
better access to these necessities, bigger brains provided an advantage."
Targeting helpers of heat shock
proteins could help treat cancer, cardiovascular disease
Dissecting how heat shock protein 90 gets steroid receptors into shape to use hormones
like estrogen and testosterone could lead to targeted therapies for hormone-driven
cancers, such as breast and prostate, that need them as well, Medical College of Georgia
researchers say. "We are trying to understand how Hsp90 folds steroid receptors into
the proper conformation so they work," says Dr. Ahmed Chadli, biochemist in the MCG
Center for Molecular Chaperones/Radiobiology and Cancer Virology. "The goal is to
interfere with their function when they are helping cancer."Hsp90 is vital to steroid
receptors whether they are involved with normal hormonal function or cancer. Vital to
Hsp90 are helpers such as p23 that help it dock at the receptor, and another Dr. Chadli
discovered, GCUNC45, that helps stabilize Hsp90 at the receptor. In fact, drugs that
eventually target the helpers of Hsp90 may one day help physicians target cancer.
Inflammation markers linked more
with fatal than nonfatal cardiovascular events in elderly
A study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine shows that for
elderly people at risk of cardiovascular disease, the presence of inflammatory markers in
the blood can identify that an individual is at a higher risk of a fatal rather than a
non-fatal heart attack or stroke. Inflammation is an immune response to injury. However,
inflammation is also thought to play a role in cardiovascular disease. Previous studies
have shown an association between high levels of markers of inflammation in the
circulation with a greater risk of a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or
stroke. In this study, Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow and colleagues used data
from an existing trial known as PROSPER (the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the
Elderly at Risk), which involved participants aged between 70 and 82 who had or were at
risk of cardiovascular disease. They examined if three inflammatory
markers—interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen—were each
more strongly massociated with fatal cardiovascular events than with non-fatal
cardiovascular events in the period of over three years in which the patients in the trial
were monitored. Using several statistical models, the researchers found that in this group
of elderly patients increased levels of all three inflammatory markers, and in particular
IL-6, were more strongly associated with a fatal heart attack or stroke than with a
non-fatal heart attack or stroke. They also investigated the predictive value of these
inflammatory markers—in other words, whether it was useful to include these markers
in tools designed to distinguish between individuals with a high and a low risk of heart
attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events. They report that adding IL-6 to the
established risk factors in predictive tools—including lifestyle factors such as
smoking, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, all of which greatly increase the
risk of cardiovascular disease—could help better identify those individuals at a risk
of a fatal stroke or heart attack, but not those at risk of a non-fatal cardiovascular
event. The findings of the study suggest inflammatory markers may be more strongly
associated with fatal heart attacks and strokes than non-fatal cardiovascular events. The
researchers acknowledge that these findings now need to be confirmed in younger
populations and larger studies to demonstrate an outright association and the design of
the current study cannot show whether the proposed association is a causal one.
Nevertheless, the findings should stimulate further investigation into whether the
application of inflammatory markers may help better predict the risk of deaths from
cardiovascular disease, and whether novel treatments which dampen inflammation might help
prolong life.
Potent metastasis inhibitor
identified
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have isolated a potent inhibitor of tumor
metastasis made by tumor cells, one that could potentially be harnessed as a cancer
treatment. Their findings were published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences during the week of June 22. Metastasis—the migration
of cancer cells to other parts of the body—is one of the leading causes of death from
cancer, and there is no approved therapy for inhibiting or treating metastases. Randoph S.
Watnick, PhD, an assistant professor in the Vascular Biology Program at Children's, has
been finding that metastatic tumors prepare landing places in distant organs for their
metastases, by secreting certain proteins that encourage tumor growth and attract feeder
blood vessels. Now, he and his colleagues show that non-metastatic tumors secrete a
protein called prosaposin -- which inhibits metastasis by causing production of factors
that block the growth of blood vessels.Cells from localized prostate and breast tumors,
which didn't metastasize, secreted high levels of prosaposin, they found, while metastatic
tumors secreted very little. When the researchers injected mice with tumor cells that were
known to be highly metastatic, but to which they had added prosaposin, lung metastases
were reduced by 80 percent and lymph node metastases were completely eliminated, and
survival time was significantly increased. Conversely, when they suppressed prosaposin
expression in tumor cells, they saw more metastases. When prosaposin was directly injected
into mice that had also received an injection of tumor cells, the tumor cells formed
virtually no metastases in the lung, or, if they did, formed much smaller colonies. These
mice lived at least 30 percent longer than mice not receiving prosaposin. Watnick and
colleagues also demonstrated that prosaposin stimulates activity of the well-known tumor
suppressor p53 in the connective tissue (stroma) surrounding the tumor. This in turn
stimulated production of thrombospondin-1, a natural inhibitor of blood vessel growth
(angiogenesis), both in the tumor stroma and in cells at the distant location.
Alterations in brain's white matter
key to schizophrenia, UCLA study shows
Schizophrenia, a chronic and debilitating disorder marked in part by auditory
hallucinations and paranoia, can strike in late adolescence or early adulthood at a time
when people are ready to stand on their own two feet as fully independent adults. Now
scientists at UCLA think they are beginning to understand one important piece of this
puzzle. In the first study of its kind, the researchers used a novel form of brain imaging
to discover that white matter in the brains of adolescents at risk of developing
schizophrenia does not develop at the same rate as healthy people. Further, the extent of
these alterations can be used to predict how badly patients will or will not deteriorate
functionally over time. Reporting in the online edition of the journal Biological
Psychiatry, lead author Katherine Karlsgodt, a postdoctoral fellow in UCLA's Department of
Psychology, and senior authors Tyrone Cannon and Carrie Bearden, professors at the UCLA
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, focused on the brain's white matter
— which forms the major connections between different brain regions — because it
is known that white matter is disrupted in people who already have schizophrenia. "We
found that healthy subjects showed a normal and expected increase in measures indexing
white matter integrity in the temporal lobe as they age," said Karlsgodt, "but
young people at high-risk for psychosis showed no such increase — that is, they fail
to show the normal developmental pattern." While there is growing evidence that
schizophrenics show changes in white matter, and there is increasing evidence that white
matter connectivity may be highly relevant to the development of psychosis, there is very
little known about how these changes arise, said Karlsgodt. Historically, looking at white
matter has been hard to do. But in recent years, she said, researchers have begun to use a
relatively new technique, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) that uses the movement of water
molecules along white matter tracts to map out the brain's pathways. In the last few
years, these techniques have been applied to research schizophrenia and other disorders.
UCLA leads nation in protecting med
students from drug industry influence
The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is one of only nine medical schools out of 149
to earn an 'A' grade in a nationwide survey by the American Medical Students Association
of educational policies governing students' contact with the pharmaceutical industry.
"We are proud to be in the top 6 percent of medical schools addressing this important
issue," said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, associate dean of the Geffen School of Medicine.
"It is crucial that our nation's physicians be trained to make decisions in the best
interests of their patients, free of influence from private industry." UCLA was one
of the first U.S. medical schools to adopt tough industry-relations guidelines. In
November 2006, UCLA prohibited all industry gifts to faculty, staff and students; banned
industry advertising materials and sales calls in patient care areas; and limited the use
of drug samples to circumstances in the best interests of patients, such as cases of
financial need.
U of M study finds new insight on
therapy for a devastating parasitic disease
University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new
insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a
parasitic flatworm.The Schistosomasis parasite infects about 200 million people in
tropical areas worldwide and is endemic in more than 70 countries, where people become
infected simply by bathing, drinking, or cooking water contaminated with the flatworm.
Although not immediately deadly, left untreated, the disease can permanently damage the
lungs, kidney, liver, and intestines and ultimately lead to death. A drug called
praziquantel has been used as the main treatment for Schistosomiasis for several decades,
but surprisingly, scientists have never understood how this drug works to kill the
parasitic worms that cause this disease. Deciphering how this drug works is important
because scientists could design new drugs that work in similar ways should the parasites
develop resistance to praziquantel. While working in a different species of flatworm
widely used to study the basic principles of regenerative biology, researchers in the
Pharmacology Department discovered that praziquantel caused a simple, striking effect: the
drug subverts normal regeneration to produce two-headed organisms. This simple observation
was then used to screen for genes required to control this effect, leading to the
identification of molecules that control the effects of praziquantel within a flatworm
model. "Our discovery of this new biological activity of praziquantel provides a
foundation for defining the relevant in vivo targets of a very important clinical
drug," said Jonathan Marchant, M.A. Ph.D., principal investigator of the study.
"Using drugs to make organisms grow two brains may seem bizarre, but the knowledge we
gained illustrates the importance of basic scientific research."
Autism diet book wins major health
book award
Nourishing Hope for Autism, a holistic book
that promotes diet as an effective way to help reduce the symptoms of autism, has been
named the Most Progressive Health Book of 2009 as part of the Independent Publishers Book
Awards.
Link
H.Reuvers
Study Finds Even Stronger
Relationship Between High Body Mass Index, Pancreatic Cancer
In reviewing the weight history of pancreatic cancer patients across their life spans,
researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have determined that a
high body mass index in early adulthood may play a significant role in an individual
developing the disease at an earlier age. The study, published in the June 24 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association, also found that patients who are obese the
year before diagnosis have a poorer outcome than those who are not. While excess weight is
a known risk factor associated with pancreatic cancer, before now, few studies have looked
at patients' body mass index (BMI) throughout their lifetime rather than simply at
adulthood and/or year of disease diagnosis. "This is the first study to explore at
which ages excess body weight predisposes an individual to pancreatic cancer," said
Donghui Li, Ph.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Gastrointestinal Medical
Oncology and the study's corresponding author. "With our epidemiological research, we
aimed to demonstrate the relationship between BMI and risk of pancreatic cancer across a
patient's life span and determine if there was a time period that specifically predisposes
an individual to the disease, as well as the link between BMI and cancer occurrence and
overall survival of the disease."
Scientists block Ebola infection in
cell-culture experiments
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered two
biochemical pathways that the Ebola virus relies on to infect cells. Using substances that
block the activation of those pathways, they've prevented Ebola infection in cell culture
experiments — potentially providing a critical early step in developing the first
successful therapy for the deadly virus. Ebola inflicts severe and often fatal hemorrhagic
fever on its victims, producing 90 percent mortality rates in some outbreaks. No vaccine
exists for the virus, and it is considered a high-risk agent for bioterrorism. Natural
Ebola outbreaks strike periodically, often with devastating effect; recent examples
include outbreaks in Uganda in 2008 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007. The
UTMB team took a new approach to stopping viral infection, using powerful new
computational and analytical techniques to focus more on the host cell than the virus,
according to microbiology and immunology associate professor Robert Davey. "The
premise for this work is that the virus is essentially nothing without a cell," said
Davey, lead author of a paper on the research appearing this month in the journal Drug
Discovery Research. "It needs to rely on many cell proteins and factors for it to
replicate. The idea is that if we can suppress the expression of those cell proteins for
just a short time, we can then stop the disease in its tracks."
Morning people and night owls show
different brain function
Are you a "morning person" or a "night owl?" Scientists at the
University of Alberta have found that there are significant differences in the way our
brains function depending on whether we're early risers or night owls. Neuroscientists in
the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation looked at two groups of people: those who
wake up early and feel most productive in the morning, and those who were identified as
evening people, those who typically felt livelier at night. Study participants were
initially grouped after completing a standardized questionnaire about their habits. Using
magnetic resonance imaging-guided brain stimulation, scientists tested muscle torque and
the excitability of pathways through the spinal cord and brain. They found that morning
people's brains were most excitable at 9 a.m. This slowly decreased through the day. It
was the polar opposite for evening people, whose brains were most excitable at 9 p.m.
How to text message and avoid pain
While it is well known that excessive text messaging can result in sore thumbs, less is
known about its possible effects on the neck, arms and hands. Young adults with symptoms
in these parts of the body use a different technique when texting, according to a study at
the Sahlgrenska Academy. Ergonomist Ewa Gustafsson studied mobile phone habits among 56
young adults who text message on a daily basis. Half of the subjects reported problems
with the neck, arms or hands, while the other half had no such symptoms. 'Considering how
much we use the small mobile phone keypads, it is important that we learn how they affect
our bodies. We need to identify factors related to mobile phone usage that may affect our
health and ability to work', says Gustafsson. Her thesis shows that mobile phone users
with neck, arm or hand symptoms tend to use their mobile phones differently than seen in a
healthy control group.
In Pursuit of a Happiness Gene
The pursuit of happiness characterizes the human condition. But for those suffering from
stress, money trouble or chronic illness, a positive outlook on life can be difficult to
find. Now, a Tel Aviv University researcher says we should look to our genes.
New therapy found to prevent heart
failure
A landmark study has successfully demonstrated a 29 percent reduction in heart failure or
death in patients with heart disease who received an implanted cardiac resynchronization
therapy device with defibrillator (CRT-D) versus patients who received only an implanted
cardiac defibrillator (ICD-only). MADIT-CRT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator
Implantation Trial with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) is a clinical trial that
enrolled more than 1,800 patients in the United States, Canada and Europe and followed the
patients for up to 4˝ years. The results of the trial were released today by the
University of Rochester Medical Center and Boston Scientific, the study's sponsor. The
MADIT-CRT Executive Committee stopped the trial on June 22, 2009, when the trial achieved
its primary end point – significant reduction in heart failure or death with CRT-D
versus ICD-only. Cardiologist Arthur Moss, M.D., professor of Medicine at the University
of Rochester Medical Center, led the MADIT-CRT trial. A prior study (MADIT-II) by Moss and
associates in 2002 showed the ICD was effective in reducing mortality. The current
MADIT-CRT study sought to determine if CRT-D could reduce the risk of mortality and heart
failure, which affects 5.7 million Americans, and the results are very positive. Patients
with heart disease have a risk of arrhythmias and heart failure. The new generation of
cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) was designed to stop dangerous,
life-threatening heart rhythms and improve the heart's contraction, thereby enabling the
device to improve survival and prevent heart failure.
Council adopts Commission proposal
improving animal treatment at time of slaughter
Conditions for animals at the time of killing will improve considerably as of January 1,
2013, when a regulation, adopted today by the Council and providing for a series of
practical measures to ensure animals are humanely treated, enters into force. To simplify
existing legislation and bring it into line with food hygiene regulations, the proposal
integrates welfare considerations into the design of slaughterhouses and requires the
regular monitoring of the efficiency of stunning techniques. Every year, nearly 360
million pigs, sheep, goats and cattle as well as several billion poultry are killed in EU
slaughterhouses for their meat. In addition, about 25 million animals are killed for their
fur. The control of contagious diseases may also require the culling of thousands to
millions of other animals. Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said: “We have a
duty to take care of animals. Their welfare is crucial, not only for ethical reasons but
also to ensure animal health and the quality of food. The proposal adopted today by the
Council will make a real difference to the way animals are treated at the time of
slaughter. This includes minimising distress and avoiding pain throughout the slaughtering
process. It also promotes innovation and it provides a level playing field for operators.
“ The new regulation provides that slaughterhouses will have to appoint a specific
person responsible for animal welfare and ensure that their staff is properly trained and
certified. Each operator will have to develop and implement standard operating procedures
for ensuring proper welfare standards in a reliable way. Such a methodology is not new for
slaughterhouses as it is already required and in place for food safety (the so-called
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or HACCP system). Requiring standardized procedures
for animal welfare is an innovation of this regulation, which will require operators to
evaluate the efficiency of their stunning methods through animal based indicators. After
stunning animals will have to be regularly monitored to ensure they do not regain
consciousness before slaughter. Manufacturers of stunning equipment will have to provide
instructions for ensuring proper animal welfare and a number of technical standards are
updated in view of scientific progress. And Member States will have to create scientific
support to provide permanent and competent assistance to official inspectors. The
authorities will also be more accountable to the public when they perform mass killings in
case of contagious diseases.
Vitamine C and prevention of autism
caused by heavy metals toxicity
Phil Bate PhD autism study request
I am still trying desperately to get my
simple, cheap, and effective autism prevention therapy broadcast to the world. It is very
difficult to get people interested that can help me. I am asking for you to help if you
will. There's no money involved. Those of you who belong to "social networks"
such as YouTube, Twitter, etc, please send the following message to your account on all
o;f these sites:
There is a new simple, cheap, and effective
Autism Prevention method. Here it is: Less than 1% of all MD's in the USA are even aware
that vitamin C takes all minerals, including heavy metals out of the body. It's not true
chelation, as vitamin C combines metabolically, but it's the same result. Take out all,
and put back in needed. Most MD's even believe that the RDA of 75 mg is correct for good
health, when 4000 mg is the zoo RDA for a 150 pound ape. (Apes are more valuable it
seems.) Mineral analysis of people who use 2000-5000 mg (2-5 grams) per day of vitamin C
for a year or so show heavy metals toxicity so low as to be immeasurable. We have an
epidemic of autism, mostly caused by mercury, aluminum, and/or lead toxicity.
This toxicity is increasing in our culture
and pregnant women are more and more subject to this environmental poisoning. This is
creating infant toxicity before birth such that the infant liver may be near toxic levels,
and the addition of vaccines using these preservatives overloads the infant liver and
actually kills brain cells. A simple and cheap prevention is to have any pregnant woman
start on 4 grams per day of cheap vitamin C (less than $30 for 9 months supply at Costco).
If she takes 2 1000 mg tablets at breakfast and 2 more at dinner, and then takes pre-natal
vitamins and vitamins at lunch, the "shared" blood stream of mother and fetus
will be gradually cleared of mercury and other heavy metals. This allows the birth of a
baby that is not near toxic levels in that tiny liver, and now is able to handle further
toxic loads. Autism is a "bankruptcy" disease to families. Instead of spending
millions on "cure", let's spend a small amount on prevention. But, MD's need to
be re-educated about vitamin C. Big Pharma has done a job with their refutation of Linus
Pauling, and the other scientists work below: Dr. Frederick R. Klenner's Clinical Guide to
the Use of Vitamin C is posted in its entirety at Link
His work on mercury toxic doses and vitamin
C is particularly to the point. The complete text of Irwin Stone's book The Healing Factor
is posted for free reading at link. A
very large number of full-text papers on curing illness with vitamin C are posted at Link . These include Frederick R.
Klenner. Link by Andrew Saul
As the only psychologist in the
Orthomolecular Medical Society for many years and a personal friend of Abram Hoffer and
Carl Pfeiffer, I know the above vitamin C facts as true. I have personally taken 4 grams
per day of vitamin C (as above), for a number of years, my recent mineral analysis shows
the only heavy metals even measurable are aluminum and arsenic, and both are extremely low
on the toxic level. (My wife cooks with aluminum, and we get fresh vegetables from
possible insecticide sprayed fields.) I have personally used vitamin C in my former
practice to solve many cases of schizophrenia caused by excessive copper using 10 grams
per day of vitamin C very successfully. These cases included both the Wilson's family
gene, and some women that the birth control pill had been involved in the copper uptake. I
have also used vitamin C to chelate out mercury in cases of depression successfully. This
simple and cheap therapy has the potential to stop the current epidemic of autism, and at
least bring it back to the 1 case in 10,000, instead of the current 1 in less than 150.
Also, simple to test the validity. Find 100-1000 recently pregnant women, and start this
regimen. If under 6 months left in pregnancy, go to 3 grams per dose, etc. I am retired
and have a net worth around $100,000, so cannot fund such myself. Help me to publicize it.
None of the many "charitable"
groups seem to be interested in preventing autism. Perhaps they remember what happened to
"March of Dimes" after Salk found the polio vaccine? Thanks to all who do the
above. You may have saved families from aautism bankruptcy. Please forward the above also
to all pregnant women you know, and ask them to forward it again. If everyone does this to
just 2 people, we'll cover the world shortly, and save a lot of unborn babies from autism.
Phil Bate PhD (drbate@bellsouth.net)
Inventor of Neuroliminal Training
Tip: Marjan Reuvers
Migraine and Increased Risk of
Cardiovascular Disease
Women who have migraines with aura may be more likely to have a stroke or heart attack
than women who don’t have the condition, and the association varies by migraine
frequency, according to research published in the June 24, 2009, online issue of
NeurologyŽ, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. An aura is a visual
or other sensory disturbance that occurs before the migraine starts, such as seeing bright
lights. The study found that women with migraine with aura whose migraines occur at least
once a week are more than four times as likely to have a stroke as women who do not have
migraines. Women with migraine with aura who have migraines less than once a month were
more than twice as likely to have a heart attack and nearly twice as likely to have had
heart procedures such as coronary artery bypass surgery or angioplasty. In contrast, women
who had migraines with aura once a month had no increased risk of stroke or heart
problems. “These results should be interpreted with caution, since the number of
migraine and migraine features were self-reported and there were relatively low numbers of
stroke and heart problems in the large study group,” said study author and member of
the American Academy of Neurology Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, of Brigham and Women’s
Hospital, Harvard Medical School and INSERM, the French national research institute.
“Nonetheless, more research is needed to determine how and why these differences
occur and whether preventing migraines could reduce the risk of stroke and heart
problems.”
Gastrin Plays Significant Role in
Helicobacter-Induced Stomach Cancer
A group led by Columbia University Medical Center’s Timothy Wang, M.D., has studied
the role of Helicobacter infection in the development of stomach cancer and found that the
hormone gastrin, which stimulates secretion of gastric acid, plays a key role in the
development of Helicobacter-induced stomach cancer, and may have distinct effects on
carcinogenesis in different parts of the stomach.More than 50 percent of the world’s
population is infected with Helicobacter, which causes chronic inflammation of the stomach
lining and is strongly linked to the development of gastric ulcers and stomach cancer.
Stomach cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
Helicobacter infection results in increased expression of gastrin, although its role in
cancer development has been unclear. High levels of gastrin lead to the development of
stomach cancer, but absence of gastrin has been shown to increase the numbers of tumors in
the gastric antrum, the lower section of the stomach that empties into the small
intestine. To reconcile this apparent discrepancy, a group led by Dr. Wang studied
Helicobacter infection and stomach cancer in animal models with either high expression of
gastrin or no gastrin at all. They found that Helicobacter infection in mice with high
levels of gastrin resulted in cancer of the gastric corpus (main body of the stomach),
whereas infection in gastrin-deficient mice developed cancer in the gastric antrum.The
latest research by Dr. Wang and his colleagues appears in the July 2009 issue of The
American Journal of Pathology.
Laughter Differs in Children with
Autism
According to a recent paper entitled “Laughter Differs in Children with Autism: An
Acoustic Analysis of Laughter Produced by Children with and without the Disorder,”
children diagnosed with autism produce different laughs than their nonautistic peers.
“We revealed that children with autism produce very engaging laughs that we call
‘voiced’ laughs,” said William Hudenko, the lead author on the paper and
assistant professor of psychology at Ithaca College.The study recorded laughter during a
series of playful interactions with an examiner. The results showed that children with
autism exhibited only one type of laughter, compared to two types of laughter for
nonautistic children. There was no difference in laugh duration, frequency, change in or
number of laughs per interaction.“We hypothesized that children with autism may be
expressing laughter primarily in response to positive internal states, rather than using
laughter to negotiate social interactions,” said Hudenko. Hudenko specializes in
child and family clinical psychology. His clinical experience involves children who have
developmental disorders and disruptive behavior disorders.
Vitamin D Sufficiency Challenges
and Opportunities for the Food Industry
Scientific evidence shows vitamin D may go beyond its traditionally known role in
maintaining bone integrity, according to new research presented at the Institute of Food
Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo earlier this month. It may play a role in
preventing autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, some
types of cancer (breast, ovarian, colorectal and prostate).
Anti-inflammatory drugs may defeat
a treatment-resistant type of cancer
Effective drugs for treating a chemotherapy-resistant form of lymphoma might already be on
the market according to a study that has pieced together a chemical pathway involved in
the disease. By following the trail of several molecular flags that mark this type of
cancer, a team from the University of California, San Diego, the Burnham Institute for
Medical Research and the University of Copenhagen Hospital have discovered that
anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat arthritis will shrink lymphoma tumors in mice. Their
report, published in the July issue of the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, also
strengthens evidence for a link between inflammation and cancer. "If this shows
promise with early clinical experiments, the treatment would be immediately
available," said Michael David, a professor of biology who leads the group at UC San
Diego. The research focused on a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma called diffuse large B-cell
lymphoma. In some patients with the disease, chemotherapy works well. In a recent study of
40 patients more than 75 percent of patients with one form of this type of lymphoma
survived five years or longer. But that study also identified a group of patients whose
cancer proved difficult to treat. Their tumors failed to respond to chemotherapy, and only
16 percent of patients with this form of lymphoma survived more than five years after they
were diagnosed. Several molecular flags mark this treatment-resistant lymphoma, but the
links between them were unknown until now. The new paper reports that tumor cells isolated
from these patients have depressed levels of a protein called SHIP1, which was known to
suppress tumors. In fact, patients with the lowest levels of SHIP1 are the least likely to
survive.
Gene predicts how brain responds to
fatigue, human study shows
New imaging research in the June 24 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience helps explain why
sleep deprivation affects some people more than others. After staying awake all night,
those who are genetically vulnerable to sleep loss showed reduced brain activity, while
those who are genetically resilient showed expanded brain activity, the study found. The
findings help explain individual differences in the ability to compensate for lack of
sleep. "The extent to which individuals are affected by sleep deprivation varies,
with some crashing out and others holding up well after a night without sleep," said
Michael Chee, MBBS, at the Duke–National University of Singapore Graduate Medical
School, an expert on sleep deprivation who was not affiliated with the study. However,
studying how the brain produces these behavioral differences is difficult: researchers
usually do not know whether their study participants will be vulnerable to sleep
deprivation until after a study is complete. Previous studies have shown conflicting
results, perhaps because the study subjects differed widely in vulnerability to sleep
deprivation. In the current study, the researchers, led by Pierre Maquet, MD, at the
University of Lěege in Belgium and Derk-Jan Dijk, PhD, at the University of Surrey in the
United Kingdom, avoided this problem by selecting study participants based on their genes.
Previous research showed that the PERIOD3 (PER3) gene predicts how people will respond to
sleep deprivation. People carry either long or short variants of the gene. Those with the
short PER3 variant are resilient to sleep loss — they perform well on cognitive tasks
after sleep deprivation. However, those with the long PER3 variant are vulnerable —
they show deficits in cognitive performance after sleep deprivation. Now the new study
explains why.
Smoking more than 5 cigarettes a
day provokes migraine attacks
Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines. This is
indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking
more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in the
Journal of Headache and Pain. The influence of tobacco as a precipitating, non-causal
factor of migraine attacks has produced contradictory data in scientific literature. The
limited research prior to the work published in The Journal of Headache and Pain indicated
that smoking could improve migraines by reducing anxiety, one of the factors that triggers
an attack. "This study is groundbreaking in Spain as there are few studies on this
topic, and all are very biased. This is due to the complexity and need for prior training
of the participants", Julio Pascual, one of the authors of this research and doctor
at the Neurology Unit of Marqués de Valdecilla, University Hospital (Santander), explains
to SINC. One advantage of this study is that the sample used, 361 medicine students from
the University of Salamanca, were fully aware what a migraine was. The experts, who
enquired about the presence or absence of migraine (and its characteristics) and whether
or not they smoked, guaranteed the reliability of the results obtained, as most surveys
for this type of study are done over the phone, randomly and in people without knowledge
of the illness. The results show that 16% of students fulfilled migraine criteria, while
20% smoked. The percentage of smokers was higher (29%) in those who were also migraine
sufferers and migraine frequency in those students who were migraine sufferers and smokers
was clearly higher than in those who were non-smokers and migraine sufferers.
New mechanism for amyloid beta
protein's toxic impact on the Alzheimer's brain
Scientists have uncovered a novel mechanism linking soluble amyloid ? protein with the
synaptic injury and memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The research,
published by Cell Press in the June 25 issue of the journal Neuron, provides critical new
insight into disease pathogenesis and reveals signaling molecules that may serve as
potential additional therapeutic targets for AD. Amyloid ? protein (A?) plays a major
pathogenic role in AD, a devastating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by
progressive cognitive impairment and memory loss. "Given the mounting evidence that
small soluble A? assemblies mediate synaptic impairment in AD, elucidating the precise
molecular pathways by which this occurs has important implications for treating and
preventing the disease," explains senior study author, Dr. Dennis Selkoe from the
Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Selkoe, Dr. Shaomin Li, and colleagues examined regulation of a cellular communication
phenomenon known as long-term synaptic depression (LTD). LTD has been linked with neuronal
degeneration, but a role for A? in the regulation of LTD has not been clearly described.
The researchers found that soluble A? facilitated LTD in the hippocampus, a region of the
brain intimately associated with memory. The enhanced synaptic depression induced by
soluble A? was mediated through a decrease in glutamate recycling at hippocampal synapses.
Excess glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, is thought to
contribute to the progressive neuronal loss characteristic of AD. The researchers went on
to show that A?-enhanced LTD was mediated by glutamate receptor activity and that the LTD
could be prevented by an extracellular glutamate scavenger system. A very similar
enhancement of LTD could be induced by a pharmacological blocker of glutamate reuptake.
Importantly, soluble A? directly and significantly decreased glutamate uptake by isolated
synapses. "Our findings provide evidence that soluble A? from several sources
enhances synaptic depression through a novel mechanism involving altered glutamate uptake
at hippocampal synapses," concludes Dr. Selkoe. "These results have both
mechanistic and therapeutic implications for the initiation of hippocampal synaptic
failure in AD and in more subtle forms of age-related A? accumulation." Future
studies are needed to determine precisely how soluble A? protein physically interferes
with glutamate transporters at the synapse.
Study pinpoints novel cancer gene
and biomarker
ana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists' discovery of a cancer-causing gene – the
first in its family to be linked to cancer – demonstrates how the panoramic view of
genomics and the close-up perspective of molecular biology are needed to determine which
genes are involved in cancer and which are mere bystanders. The findings are reported in
the June 25 issue of the journal Nature. "In the coming years, we can expect genomic
studies [which chart the activity of thousands of cell genes] to generate hundreds or
thousands of genetic elements of interest in cancer research," says the study's
senior author, Lynda Chin, MD, of Dana-Farber. "To narrow that group to the genes
that actually drive cancer growth and metastasis, it's necessary to do functional studies,
which focus on what individual genes do to turn a cell cancerous, and mechanistic studies,
which examine how they turn cells cancerous and in what setting. It is a long and
intensive effort that will leverage knowledge from different fields and different model
systems."In the study, Chin, lead author Kenneth Scott, PhD, of Dana-Farber, and
their colleagues worked their way through a series of experiments -- in yeast cells,
multiple types of human cancer cells, laboratory cell cultures, and mouse models - to
demonstrate that a surplus of a gene known as GOLPH3 can spur cancer cell growth in a
variety of tissues. It is the first gene associated with the Golgi complex, a tiny
packaging plant that prepares proteins for their journey within and outside the cell,
which has been found to play a role in cancer. Chin's team also found that the protein
made from GOLPH3 may serve as a biomarker for tumors that can be effectively treated with
the chemotherapy drug rapamycin: tumors with a high level of the protein are more apt to
shrink in response to the drug than those with low levels. The study began with an
observation made years ago that a section of chromosome 5p13 is often duplicated, or
amplified, in cancers of the lung, ovary, breast, and prostate gland, as well as melanoma.
The presence of this abnormality in so many different types of cancer led Chin and her
associates to take a closer look at that stretch of chromosome to see what genes reside
there. Using a method called genomic qPCR that can pick out specific sequences of DNA,
they found four genes in the amplified region, two of which, GOLPH3 and SUB1, were
expressed at high levels, due to the increase in gene copy. To determine whether both, or
either, of these genes are involved in cancer, they conducted "loss of function"
tests, in which they lowered each gene's activity in a set of lab-grown tumor cells.
"When we 'knocked down' GOLPH3 expression [or activity] by 95 percent, it
significantly inhibited the ability of these cell lines to grow in a semi-solid condition,
a cancerous quality that normal cells do not typically share," Chin says.
"Knocking down SUB1 to a comparable level had only a minimal effect." Intriguing
as this finding was, it was hardly enough to prove that GOLPH3 is an oncogene -- a
contributor to cancer when overexpressed within a cell. Demonstrating that would require
several experiments to ensure that GOLPH3 itself, and not a nearby "shadow"
gene, is responsible for the effects. Next came gain-of-function studies to see whether
revving up GOLPH3 activity can turn a non-cancerous cell cancerous. It did in both mouse
and human cells. "All these results enabled us to build a case that GOLPH3 is an
oncogene," Chin states. But there was a problem. "This information wasn't very
helpful for achieving our ultimate goal, which is the translation of our findings into a
form that is clinically useful for patients."
Simple measures may prevent
transmission of stomach ulcer bacteria
The stomach ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori is not transmitted through drinking water
as previously thought, but rather through vomit and possibly faeces. This is shown in a
thesis at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is therefore
possible to prevent the spread of the bacterium in developing countries through some
fairly simple measures. 'Taking some cheap but powerful measures may prevent the spread of
the bacterium. It could be enough to isolate vomiting patients especially from small
children for a short period of time, since Helicobacter pylori is not able to survive for
long outside the stomach. If isolation is not possible, it may suffice to pay extra
attention to good hygiene', says doctoral student Anders Janzon. The research team
analysed the drinking water, lake water and wastewater in an area in Dhaka in Bangladesh,
where the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is very common. The results show that while the
diarrhoea bacterium ETEC is often present in the drinking water, Helicobacter pylori is
not. Other studies have shown that new cases of Helicobacter pylori tend to pop up in
connection with various diarrhoea illnesses, and this pointed the research team in the
right direction.'We analysed vomit and diarrhoea from cholera patients, and found large
amounts of active Helicobacter pylori. We therefore conclude that vomit is a very likely
source of new infections', says Janzon.
Study Investigates DNA of Sleep
A new study at the University of Leicester aims to investigate the DNA of sleep. The
research in the renowned Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester is being
carried out by Ms Mobina Khericha and Dr Eran Tauber. It represents a new approach to
study the genetics of sleep. Using fruitflies as models the researchers aim at
understanding the genetics of sleep and identifying genes involved in this process. Ms
Khericha said “Recent studies have revealed the presence of sleep-like state in the
fruit-fly Drosophila melanogaster that shares striking similarities with mammalian sleep.
“For example, sleep in the fruit fly can be modulated by chemicals such as caffeine,
and is characterized by a reduced arousal following sleep deprivation. In older flies
sleep becomes shorter and fragmented. Fruit flies are a powerful model organism that has
been extensively used to understand the genetics of human development, behaviour and
disease. “Sleep is ubiquitous in a diverse range of organisms including reptiles,
birds and mammals, and is widely accepted as critical for survival. However, despite
intensive research, the genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling sleep are largely
unknown.
Commission welcomes adoption of
feed regulation that will further strengthen food safety in the EU
Farmers and pet owners will soon get better information on the feed they buy, a step that
will further strengthen food safety in the EU, after the Council of Agriculture Ministers
adopted today a regulation replacing the current legislation on marketing and the use of
feed. The new legislation, based on a Commission proposal from 2008, considerably
simplifies the existing procedures and it will help promote innovation and competitiveness
in the European feed sector. It is also expected to lead to a more integrated single
market for feed by reducing the administrative burden for feed operators. The regulation
was endorsed by the European Parliament on February 5 and is expected to enter into force
later this year. Androulla Vassiliou, EU Health Commissioner said: "I welcome the
Council's decision today and that of the European Parliament in February. While
maintaining our high standards of protection of animal health, welfare, food and feed
safety, this new legislation represents a major step forward for the simplification and
modernisation of procedures for labelling and marketing animal feed and pet food. At the
same time it will help boost the competitiveness of the EU livestock sector."
Electron microscopy images reveal
assembly of HIV
Researchers have produced a three-dimensional reconstruction of HIV, which shows the
structure of the immature form of the virus at unprecedented detail. The study, published
in the 22-26 June online edition of PNAS, describes how the protein coat that packages the
virus' genetic material assembles in human cells. The scientists at the European Molecular
Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University Clinic Heidelberg, Germany, used cryoelectron
tomography to generate the as yet highest resolution 3D computer reconstruction images of
the immature Gag lattice. Immature HIV is a precursor of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
A tick too close - the emerging
threat of tick-borne diseases
It’s that time again - the season for hiking, bathing, grilling… and a badly
needed blood meal. The mosquitoes are thrilled! We – as the blood meal –
don’t share their excitement, but for those of us living in temperate regions (in
contrast to the tropics and subtropics), mosquitoes are – with a few exceptions (e.g.
West Nile virus) - a nuisance but not much of a health threat. But don’t put down
your defenses! Another bloodsucker is on the prowl. In mild, moist climates, ticks are in
their element and are vectors of some nasty diseases. The tick lifestyle must be a
successful one; they’ve been around in pretty much the same form for approximately
200 million years. Plenty of time to specialize. When it comes to the “attack”,
ticks don’t get points for creativity; most species wait patiently on vegetation
until somebody brushes by, at most stretching their legs out a little when they detect a
potential vertebrate host (movement, carbon dioxide, heat). But once a host is found,
there are real tricks to the tick trade: special mouthparts that prevent easy removal, a
cement-like substance that glues the tick in place, saliva containing analgesic,
anti-inflammatory and coagulation-inhibiting substances. The blood-collecting procedure is
painless and often goes unnoticed.
Early infection and protection
against allergies?
When infected, the body has two types of immune defence to deploy – innate immunity
and acquired immunity. In her dissertation, Shanie Saghafian Hedengren studies monocytes,
a type of white blood corpuscles that are part of the innate immune system. “Innate
immunity plays a crucial role at the beginning of life as protection against bacteria and
other microbes, since the acquired immune system is not fully developed at that stage.
What’s more, acquired immunity and its memory are formed by ‘communication
molecules’ that are initially transmitted by monocytes, among other sources.
Imbalance in the monocyte function, as a result of less stimulation by microbes and
viruses early in life, may therefore play an important role in the development of
allergies,” maintains Shanie Saghafian Hedengren. In this dissertation, a group of
children is followed from birth to the age of five years. It shows the correlation between
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contraction before the age of two and a lower risk of producing
antibodies against allergens, so-called allergic sensitization. It is also of interest
that EBV infection after the age of two was correlated with a greater risk of
sensitization in five-year-olds. EBV is a common herpesvirus that the majority of the
world’s population carry throughout their lives. It is a highly successful virus that
is normally spread via saliva and infects people early in life. Most people hardly notice
when their children become infected.
Partner relationship as a buffer
against stress
A good partner relationship can act as a buffer for those exposed to work-related stress.
The relationship reduces the negative effects of this kind of stress on our health. But
poor relationships will amplify the negative effects", say Ann-Christine Andersson
Arntén in a new doctoral dissertation from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.A
positive approach and successful stress-management techniques also help to reduce the
negative effects of work-related stress", explains Ann-Christine Andersson Arntén,
who will be presenting her dissertation in psychology.But when there are stressful
experiences both at work and in the relationship, the risk of burn-out and poor health
increases dramatically. About 900 persons took part in her survey. Those who felt they had
a good relationship experienced that they enjoyed better health than those who had a more
problematic relationship. Women with a poorly-functioning relationship experienced more
anxiety, mental stress reactions and sleeping difficulties than women who had a good
relationship. Men who had a mediocre relationship had a higher incidence of depression,
anxiety, psychological and somatic stress reactions than men with worse or better
relationships.One explanation can be that people living with a mediocre relationship take
more responsibility to improve the relationship, while those with poor relationships just
admit it, and don't feel they can do anything about it.
New Research Discovers Link Between
Smoking and Brain Damage
New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be
published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers, led by
Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC),
have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous
system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage. The research
centers on a compound known as NNK, which is common in tobacco. NNK is a procarinogen, a
chemical substance which becomes carcinogenic when it is altered by the metabolic process
of the body. Unlike alcohol or drug abuse NNK does not appear to harm brain cells
directly, however, the research team believe it may cause neuroinflamation, a condition
which leads to disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis. "Considering the extreme
economical and disease burden of neuroinflammation related disorders, it is extremely
important from a medical, social and economic point of view to discover if NNK in tobacco
causes neuroinflammation" said Ghosh.
What is the risk of obesity while
taking antidepressant drugs?
Cross-sectional studies have reported an association between major depressive episode
(MDE) and obesity. The objective of this longitudinal analysis was to determine whether
MDE increase the risk of becoming obese over a 10-year period. Data from the Canadian
National Population Health Survey (NPHS) were used, a longitudinal study of a
representative cohort of household residents in Canada. The incidence of obesity, defined
as a body mass index (BMI) of 30, was evaluated in respondents who were 18 years or older
at the time of a baseline interview in 1994. MDE was assessed using a brief diagnostic
instrument. At the end of the investigation, the risk of obesity was not elevated in
association with MDE, either in unadjusted or covariate-adjusted analyses. The strongest
predictor of obesity was a BMI in the overweight (but not obese) range. Effects were also
seen for (younger) age, (female) sex, a sedentary activity pattern, low income and
exposure to antidepressant medications. Unexpectedly, significant effects were seen for
serotonin-reuptake-inhibiting antidepressants and venlafaxine, but neither for tricyclic
antidepressants nor antipsychotic medications.
Cerebrospinal fluid shows
Alzheimer's disease deterioration much earlier
It is possible to determine which patients run a high risk of developing Alzheimer’s
disease and the dementia associated with it, even in patients with minimal memory
impairment. This has been shown by recent research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University
of Gothenburg, Sweden. The results have been published in the most recent issue of the
prestigious medical journal Lancet Neurology. "The earlier we can catch
Alzheimer’s disease, the more we can do for the patient. The disease is one that
progresses slowly, and the pharmaceuticals that are currently available are only able to
alleviate the symptoms", says Kaj Blennow, professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy, and
a world?leading researcher in the field. Several biomarkers have been identified in recent
years. Biomarkers are proteins that can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid and used to
diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. It is now clear that the typical pattern of biomarkers
known as the "CSF AD profile" can be seen in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients
even with very mild memory deficiencies, before these can be detected by other tests.
Better hearing with bone conducted
sound
New technology to hear vibrations through the skull bone has been developed at Chalmers
University of Technology. Besides investigating the function of a new implantable bone
conduction hearing aid, Sabine Reinfeldt has studied the sensitivity for bone conducted
sound and also examined the possibilities for a two-way communication system that is
utilizing bone conduction in noisy environments.A new Bone Conduction Implant (BCI)
hearing system was investigated by Sabine Reinfeldt - "This hearing aid does not
require a permanent skin penetration, in contrast to the Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids
(BAHAs) used today." Measurements showed that the new BCI hearing system can be a
realistic alternative to the BAHA. Sound is normally perceived through Air Conduction
(AC), which means that the sound waves in the air enter the ear-canal and are transmitted
to the cochlea in the inner ear. However, sound can also be perceived via Bone Conduction
(BC). Vibrations are then transmitted to the cochleae through the skull bone from either
one's own voice, the surrounding sound field, or a BC transducer. In two-way communication
systems, BC is believed to improve the sound quality when used in extremely noisy
environments which require hearing protection devices in the ear-canals.
Do viruses make bacteria more
deadly?
Research at the University of Leicester is focussing on a major killer in UK hospitals. In
England and Wales, the national health statistics in 2007 showed that there were 8,324
death certificates which named Clostridium difficile. This is a bacterium which causes
severe diarrhoea in humans and animals as the underlying cause of death, a 28% increase
from 2006. Now Janet Nale of the Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation is
investigating the contributing factors that make Clostridium difficile so aggressive to
direct treatment. She will be presenting her research at the Festival of Postgraduate
Research which is taking place on Thursday 25th June in the Belvoir Suite, Charles Wilson
Building at the University of Leicester between 11:30am and 1pm. This event is open to the
public and is free to attend.
Fish protein link to controlling
high blood pressure - new study
Medical scientists at the University of Leicester are investigating how a species of fish
from the Pacific Ocean could help provide answers to tackling chronic conditions such as
hereditary high blood pressure and kidney disease. They are examining whether the Goby
fish can help researchers locate genes linked to high blood pressure. This is because a
protein called Urotensin II, first identified in the fish, is important for regulating
blood pressure in all vertebrates- from fish to humans.The study is being carried out in
the University’s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences. Researcher Dr Radoslaw Debiec
said: “The protein found in the fish has remained almost unaltered during evolution.
“This indicates that the protein might be of critical importance in regulation of
blood pressure and understanding the genetic background of high blood pressure.
“Uncovering the genetic causes of high blood pressure may help in its better
prediction and early prevention of its complications. My research at the University of
Leicester has shown how variation in the gene encoding the protein may influence risk of
hypertension.”Dr Debiec will be presenting his research at the Festival of
Postgraduate Research which is taking place on Thursday 25th June in the Belvoir Suite,
Charles Wilson Building at the University of Leicester between 11.30am and 1pm.
Melatonin - the fountain of youth?
Melatonin can slow down the effects of aging. A team at laboratoire Arago in Banyuls sur
Mer (CNRS / Université Pierre et Marie Curie) has found that a treatment based on
melatonin can delay the first signs of aging in a small mammal. These results appeared in
the journal PLoS ONE on 15 June 2009. Better known as the ‘time-keeping' hormone,
melatonin is naturally secreted by the body during the night. It is therefore a kind of
biological signal for nightfall, allowing an organism to synchronize itself with the
day/night rhythm. At Laboratoire Arago, Elodie Magnanou and her co-workers studied the
long-term effects of melatonin on the Greater White-toothed shrew, a small nocturnal
insectivorous mammal. Under normal conditions, this animal shows the first signs of aging
after reaching 12 months, mainly through the loss of circadian rhythm in its activities.
By continuously administering melatonin, starting a little before 12 months, the
appearance of these first signs was delayed by at least 3 months, which is a considerable
period in relation to the lifespan of this shrew(1). Melatonin is now known to play
several beneficial roles. These include being an antioxidant, an anti-depressant, and
helping to remediate sleep problems. The next step will be to understand the mode of
action of the hormone on aging, so we can perhaps envisage its use on humans.
Melanopsin and sleep modulation - A
bright future for light therapy?
Light strongly influences human physiology and notably sleep regulation. An international
team of scientists, including Patrice Bourgin from CNRS ‘Institut des neurosciences
cellulaires et intégratives' in Strasbourg, has just published a detailed study in
PlosBiology on the role of melanopsin, a molecule involved in mediating the effects of
light on sleep. These scientists also revealed evidence of new interactions between the
different mechanisms acting on the duration and quality of sleep and alertness. The light
reaching our eyes sends two types of information to our brains. Firstly, visual
information is mainly relayed by the retina cells known as rods and cones. Secondly, non
visual information from light intensity is detected in the eye and transmitted to the
brain, notably by melanopsin. The discovery of this photosensitive protein, less than ten
years ago, and its major role in the mediation of light effects, have stimulated a great
deal of research.
Waste water treatment plant mud
used as 'green' fuel
Catalan scientists have shown that using mud from waste water treatment plants as a
partial alternative fuel can enable cement factories to reduce their CO2 emissions and
comply with the Kyoto Protocol, as well as posing no risk to human health and being
profitable. These are the results of an environmental impact assessment. Dependency on oil
and coal could be coming to an end. Researchers from the Rovira i Virgili University (URV)
have analysed the environmental and human health impacts of an alternative fuel that
solves various problems simultaneously. This is the solid waste from the water treatment
plants of large cities. The scientists have carried out the first study into this method
at a cement plant in Vallcarca (Catalonia), which has been producing cement for more than
100 years, and they confirm in the latest issue of the journal Environmental Science and
Pollution Research that it is "the best option for getting rid of mud that would have
had to be dumped elsewhere, while also powering the plant". "As this mud is
already waste, burning it does not enter into the atmospheric CO2 emissions assigned to
each country under the Kyoto Protocol", José Luis Domingo, lead author of the study
and director of the Toxicology and Environmental Health Laboratory at the URV, tells SINC.
This would enable plants producing cement, one of the most contaminating industries in
terms of CO2 as well as emissions of dioxins, furans and heavy metals, to consume energy
in a more environmentally-friendly way. Up to 20% of the fossil fuel energy used at the
Catalan plant has now been substituted for the fuel from waste water treatment plant mud.
How to confirm the causes of iron
deficiency anemia in young women
Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is commonly seen in women aged <50 years. The diagnostic
workflow in young women affected by IDA is not clearly established. The British Society of
Gastroenterology recommends gastroscopy only in IDA women younger than 45 years presenting
with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. However, symptoms are often mild and aspecific in IDA
women and the gastroscopy is an invasive procedure associated with a high number of
refusals. In a previous work on IDA premenopausal women, gastroscopy was performed in all
patients, later deemed unnecessary in almost 30% of the studied women because these were
affected only by menorrhagia. A research team led by Bruno Annibale from Italy
prospectively evaluate the usefulness of a pre-endoscopic serological screening for H.
pylori infection and celiac disease with the use of two tests (human recombinant tissue
transglutaminase IgA antibodies and anti-H. pylori IgG antibodies) in women aged < 50
affected by IDA in order to increase the compliance for gastroscopy. Their study will be
published on June 14, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology In this study, 115
women aged < 50 years with IDA were tested by human recombinant tissue transglutaminase
IgA antibodies (tTG) and anti-H. pylori IgG antibodies. All cases underwent gastroscopy
with biopsies of stomach and duodenum, irrespective of tests results. Of the 115 patients,
45.2% of women were test-positive. The serological results were confirmed by gastroscopy
in 100% of those with positive H. pylori antibodies, in 50% of those with positive tTG and
in 81.5% of test-negative patients. Sensitivity and specificity were 84.8% and 100% for H.
pylori infection, and 80% and 92.8% for tTG, respectively. The gastroscopy compliance rate
of test-positive women was significantly increased in comparison with those test-negative
(65.4% vs 42.8%; Fisher test P = 0.0239). This study showed that two simples and widely
available tests, such as those for tissue transglutaminase IgA antibodies and anti-H.
pylori IgG antibodies, were able to select women with IDA to submit for gastroscopy to
identify IDA-related GI causes and to increase the compliance for the invasive procedure.
Gastroscopy with biopsies confirmed in the vast majority of IDA women the presence of
active H. pylori pangastritis, atrophic gastric body, or celiac disease as possible causes
of IDA.
Lack of happiness hormone serotonin
in the brain causes impaired maternal behavior in mice
A lack of serotonin, commonly known as the "happiness hormone", in the brain
slows the growth of mice after birth and is responsible for impaired maternal behavior
later in life. This was the result of research conducted by Dr. Natalia Alenina, Dana
Kikic, and Professor Michael Bader of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
(MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany. At the same time, the researchers discovered that the presence
of serotonin in the brain is not crucial for the survival of the animals. Furthermore,
they were able to confirm that there are two strictly separate pathways of serotonin
production: One gene is responsible for the formation of serotonin in the brain, another
gene for the production of the hormone in the body (PNAS, June 23, 2009, Vol. 106, No. 25,
pp 10332-10337)*. The researchers "switched off" the gene Tph2 in mice to
elucidate the function of the gene in the brain. Tph2 produces the enzyme tryptophan
hydroxylase (TPH), which is responsible for the formation of serotonin. After the
researchers switched off Tph2, the animals produced almost no serotonin in the brain.
Nevertheless, the animals were viable and half of them survived until adulthood. However,
they needed more sleep during the day and the regulation of their respiration, body
temperature, and blood pressure was altered.
Immunosuppressive drug stimulates
immune memory
A drug given to transplant recipients to suppress their immune systems has a paradoxical
effect on cells responsible for immune memory. The study is published online ahead of
print in the journal Nature. In experiments conducted in both mice and monkeys, rapamycin
can stimulate the formation of memory CD8 T cells, which enable the immune system to
respond faster and stronger to an infectious agent upon a second encounter. The finding
means that doctors might be able to boost the effectiveness of vaccines with drugs that
act similarly to rapamycin, says first author Koichi Araki (Emory University, Atlanta,
Georgia).
Marking anorexia with a brain
protein
Eating disorders are frequently seen as psychological or societal diseases, but do they
have an underlying biological cause? A new study shows that the levels of a brain protein
differ between healthy and anorexic women.Anorexia is a serious and occasionally fatal
eating disorder most commonly affecting women. Scientists do not yet understand the
physical causes of anorexia, though some studies suggest a link to low levels of a brain
protein called BDNF. Now, a study recommended by Cynthia Bulik, a member of Faculty of
1000 Medicine and leading expert in the field of psychiatry and eating disorders, shows
that BDNF levels are higher in women who have recovered from anorexia. This suggests that
low BDNF levels may be reversible. Researchers at Chiba University in Japan found that
anorexic women had lower levels of BDNF in their blood than healthy women or those who had
recovered from anorexia. Women with low BDNF also had the lowest self-image, suffered from
anxiety and depression, and performed poorly on certain tests of cognitive ability.
Further study is needed to determine what role BDNF plays in anorexia, and if it can be
used to predict the risk of developing it, but Bulik forecasts that "...BDNF may
emerge as a useful biomarker of [anorexia] and of recovery from [anorexia]."
New research discovers link between
smoking and brain damage
New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be
published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers, led by
Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC),
have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous
system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage. The research
centers on a compound known as NNK, which is common in tobacco. NNK is a procarinogen, a
chemical substance which becomes carcinogenic when it is altered by the metabolic process
of the body. Unlike alcohol or drug abuse NNK does not appear to harm brain cells
directly, however, the research team believe it may cause neuroinflamation, a condition
which leads to disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis. "Considering the extreme
economical and disease burden of neuroinflammation related disorders, it is extremely
important from a medical, social and economic point of view to discover if NNK in tobacco
causes neuroinflammation" said Ghosh. To prove if such a link exists the team
conducted two types of tests, one outside of a living host in glass and one in laboratory
mice. The team used blot analysis techniques which showed that the introduction of NNK
resulted in a clear increase in proinflammatory signaling proteins, proinflammatory
effector proteins and other stress related proteins. Increased levels of proinflammatory
cytokines, which act as molecular messengers between cells, were also detected. This shows
that NNK provokes an exaggerated response from the brain's immune cells, known as
microglia. Microglia cells act as 'destroyers' for the brain by attacking damaged or
unhealthy cells. However, when provoked by NNK these cells start to attack healthy brain
cells rather than the unhealthy cells they are supposed to attack. "Our findings
prove that tobacco compound NNK can activate microglia significantly which subsequently
harms the nerve cells," said Basu. While other harmful side effects of smoking, such
as lung disease, usually derive from tar or smoke this research suggests damage is not
confined only to smoking. NNK is present in all forms of tobacco and therefore it can also
enter the body through chewing.The study also suggests that second hand smoking may lead
to the same neuroinflamation conditions. Concentrations of NNK in tobacco can vary from
20-310 nanograms in cigarettes. However, NNK is also present in the smoke itself,
smoke-filled air indoors may contain up to 26 nanograms of NNK. This means that both
direct and second-hand smoking can lead to substantial measures of NNK intake. "This
research sheds light on the processes that lead to nerve cell damage in those who smoke
cigarettes or consume tobacco products on regular basis," said Ghosh.
Study shows Chronix technology
using serum DNA can identify early presence of disease
Chronix Biomedical today reported that a new study in a peer-reviewed journal further
confirms the potential diagnostic and prognostic utility of using circulating fragments of
DNA to detect early stage disease. These DNA fragments, referred to as serum DNA, are
released into the blood stream in trace amounts during the disease process. Chronix
Biomedical has developed proprietary technology that can find, isolate and identify these
serum DNA sequences, enabling very early detection of an underlying disease state or of a
change in response to treatment. The study in the current issue of the journal Zoonoses
& Public Health1 demonstrated that using Chronix technology, researchers were able to
identify specific signature sequences in serum DNA before clinical symptoms appeared in
animals experimentally infected with BSE (mad cow disease). "These new results add to
the growing body of scientific data validating the value of serum DNA as an early
indicator of disease, and also advance our unique ability to apply these findings to the
development of laboratory tests for routine clinical use," said Howard Urnovitz,
Ph.D., CEO of Chronix. "Using our proprietary technology and next-generation
sequencers, we were able to identify distinctive DNA signatures indicating the presence of
BSE in all of the infected animals well before clinical symptoms appeared." These new
findings follow three previous published studies demonstrating the utility of using serum
DNA to identify human cancers, human infectious disease and BSE. For example, a study
reported in the December issue of the journal Blood showed that serum DNA was able to
identify a secondary cancer in a patient before it was clinically apparent. Of special
interest in this current study is the finding that these DNA signatures occurred primarily
in non-coding regions of the genome, where geneticists typically would not look. Chronix
scientists believe these findings may lead to a better understanding of the genetics of
disease development, while advancing Chronix's own ability to harness these early changes
for diagnostic and prognostic applications.
UCF team's advanced nerve cell
system could help cure diabetic neuropathy, related diseases
Multiple sclerosis, diabetic neuropathy, and other conditions caused by a loss of myelin
insulation around nerves can be debilitating and even deadly, but adequate treatments do
not yet exist. That's in large part because of deficiencies in model research systems. In
an upcoming issue of the journal Biomaterials, a UCF team addresses this problem with a
report on the first lab-grown motor nerves that are insulated and organized the same way
they are in the body. The group's model system, along with further advances now within
reach, could dramatically improve understanding of the causes of myelin-related
conditions, and enable discovery and testing of new drug therapies. Nerve malfunctions, or
neuropathies, involve a breakdown in the way the brain sends and receives electric signals
along nerve cells. In mammals, these signals are able to travel long distances because of
breaks in their myelin insulation called nodes of Ranvier, each of which chemically boosts
the signal, allowing it to travel to the next node. "They're like power station
relays," says James Hickman, a bioengineer at UCF who led the new research, which
achieved the first successful nodes of Ranvier formation ever on motor nerves in a lab
culture, among other advances. Multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetic neuropathy,
Guillain-Barré syndrome, and other demyelinating conditions are caused when nerve signals
can't travel their normal path from node to node due to myelin breakdown. Within the brain
and spinal cord, where the damage from MS occurs, cells called oligodendrocytes surround
the nerves and produce this critical myelin. In the peripheral nervous system, where the
problems associated with diabetic neuropathy originate, Schwann cells perform this
function.Due to the famous complexity of the nervous system, studying demyelinating
neuropathies has proven exceedingly challenging. "People have basically been stuck
doing work in animal models, and they don't work very well," says Hickman.
Researchers have long recognized the need for lab-grown motor nerve cells that myelinate
and form nodes of Ranvier so that, under controlled laboratory conditions, they can zero
in on the causes of and solutions for demyelination. Researchers have achieved Myelination
and nodes of Ranvier formation with sensory neurons, but accomplishing the same task with
the motor nerves that play more critical roles in some diseases has remained an elusive
goal. Working with Hickman, UCF graduate student John Rumsey was able to accomplish this
very feat, though, for the first time. "It was exciting because it was totally
unexpected," says Hickman. The key to their surprising successes is one that other
researchers in the field may find surprising, and one that makes their new model system
better suited to advancing neuropathy research than anything ever before available.
Researchers uncover approach for
possibly eradicating HIV infection
Researchers from the newly-established VGTI Florida and the University of Montreal have
uncovered a possible method for eradicating HIV infection in the human body. The
researchers have also revealed new information which demonstrates how HIV persists in the
body - even in patients receiving drug treatments - and how the virus continues to
replicate itself in individuals undergoing treatment. The research findings will be
published in the online version of the journal Nature Medicine on June 21 and will be
featured in an upcoming print edition of the journal.Medical advancements in the past 20
years have significantly increased the survival rates of AIDS patients. In fact,
approximately 90 percent of patients infected with AIDS can survive with the disease as
long as they are treated with a complex series of antiretroviral drugs. "Current
medications allow us to control HIV and limit its progression in most cases,"
explained Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, Ph.D., current scientific director for VGTI Florida, a
former scientist at the University of Montreal, and senior author of the research paper.
"However, the medications do not eradicate the disease. Instead, the disease persists
within the body – much like water in a reservoir - and is never fully destroyed. We
believe our latest research may help scientists and physicians overcome this hurdle."
The research team was able to identify a possible new way of attacking HIV by first
identifying the specific cells where HIV infection persists in patients currently
undergoing treatment. They found that the disease is able to survive within two subsets of
memory T-cells. Memory T-cells are a portion of the body's immune system and have the
ability to learn, detect and attack certain types of infectious diseases.
The battle for CRTC2 - How obesity
increases the risk for diabetes
Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of insulin resistance,
but science's understanding of the chain of events is still spotty. Now, researchers at
the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have filled in the gap and identified the
missing link between the two. Their findings, to be published in the June 21, 2009 advance
online edition of the journal Nature, explain how obesity sets the stage for diabetes and
why thin people can become insulin-resistant.The Salk team, led by Marc Montminy, Ph.D., a
professor in the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, discovered how a
condition known as ER (endoplasmic reticulum) stress, which is induced by a high fat diet
and is overly activated in obese people, triggers aberrant glucose production in the
liver, an important step on the path to insulin resistance. In healthy people, a
"fasting switch" only flips on glucose production when blood glucose levels run
low during fasting. "The existence of a second cellular signaling cascade—like
an alternate route from A to B—that can modulate glucose production, presents the
potential to identify new classes of drugs that might help to lower blood sugar by
disrupting this alternative pathway," says Montminy.It had been well established that
obesity promotes insulin resistance through the inappropriate inactivation of a process
called gluconeogenesis, where the liver creates glucose for fuel and which ordinarily
occurs only in times of fasting. Yet, not all obese people become insulin resistant, and
insulin resistance occurs in non-obese individuals, leading Montminy and his colleagues to
suspect that fasting-induced glucose production was only half the story.
Tumor metabolism discovery opens
new detection and treatment possibilities for rare form of colon cancer
People who suffer from Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, a rare inherited cancer syndrome, develop
gastrointestinal polyps and are predisposed to colon cancer and other tumor types.
Carefully tracing the cellular chain-of-command that links nutrient intake to cell growth
(and which is interrupted in Peutz-Jeghers syndrome), allowed researchers at the Salk
Institute for Biological Studies to exploit the tumors' weak spot. Their study, published
in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
demonstrates that precancerous cells' insatiable appetite for glucose not only reveals
their existence before they can develop into full-fledged colon cancer, but also hands
targeted drugs the power to cut-off the tumors' lifeline. "Currently there is no
treatment for Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. Patients simply have to undergo continual surgeries
to keep cutting out colon polyps and tumors as they arise," says Reuben Shaw, a
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist and Hearst Endowment assistant
professor in the Salk's Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory.
Growth in German children
German children are taller than 30 years ago, but the increase in height observed during
the last century has become slower. In the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt
International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(23): 377-82), Bettina Gohlke and Joachim
Woelfle of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Bonn summarize the current
state of knowledge of changes in height and of the physical development of young people.7-
to 10-year olds are 1 to 1.5 cm taller than in the 1970s, whereas length at birth only
slightly increased between 1984 and 1997, by 0.2 cm. This implies that the rate of growth
during childhood has increased. This trend is less marked after puberty. There has also
been little change in physical maturation. Thus, the age at menarche in young women has
remained constant at about 13 years since the early 1960s. The correlation between growth
and socioeconomic status has been well established. For this reason, body growth is
accepted as an important indicator of the socioeconomic conditions of a society. However,
the biological mechanism through which this acts is still unknown.
Phthalic symbol
Immobilized microbes can break down potentially harmful phthalates, according to
researchers in China, writing in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution.
The microbes might be used to treat industrial waste water and so prevent these materials
from entering the environment. Phthalic Acid Esters (PAEs), commonly known as phthalates,
are widely used as additives in polymer manufacture as plasticizers. They do not readily
degrade in the environment and so have become widely distributed in natural water,
wastewater, soils, and sediment. Concerns about their suspected ability to cause genetic
mutations and cancer have led to their listing as priority pollutants by the US
Environmental Protection Agency, the European Union, the China National Environmental
Monitoring Centre, and other regulatory authorities. Weizhong Wu of the College of
Environmental Sciences and Engineering, at Peking University, in Beijing, and Xianlin Meng
of Harbin Institute of Technology, in Nangang District, have identified and isolated a
microbe that can digest one of the most common PAEs, d-n-butyl phthalate. This compound is
widely used and is one of the most frequently found in diverse environmental samples
including groundwater, river water, drinking water, open ocean water, soil humates, lake
sediments and marine sediments, the researchers say.
Three to six months to lose weight
gained in pregnancy is normal
Once the baby arrives, many new mothers want to return to their former weight quickly
– just like film stars who appear in the media in bikinis just weeks after giving
birth. But according to the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care
(IQWiG), women should not put themselves under too much pressure straight away. In
information published today on Informed Health Online, the Institute also warns that
overdoing early weight loss attempts could have a negative impact on breastfeeding.
Antibiotics take toll on beneficial
microbes in gut
It’s common knowledge that a protective navy of bacteria normally floats in our
intestinal tracts. Antibiotics at least temporarily disturb the normal balance. But
it’s unclear which antibiotics are the most disruptive, and if the full array of
“good bacteria” return promptly or remain altered for some time. In studies in
mice, University of Michigan scientists have shown for the first time that two different
types of antibiotics can cause moderate to wide-ranging changes in the ranks of these
helpful guardians in the gut. In the case of one of the antibiotics, the armada of
“good bacteria” did not recover its former diversity even many weeks after a
course of antibiotics was over.
Cancer-Causing Protein Can Also
Help Fight the Tumors It Causes
Oncogenes are genes that when mutated or expressed in high concentrations can cause normal
cells to become cancerous. Now research from Tel Aviv University is demonstrating that
Ras, one of the first oncogenes discovered, has the power to heal as well as harm. Ph.D.
student Oded Rechavi and his fellow researchers at Tel Aviv University's Department of
Neurobiology have found that Ras has the ability to transfer from cancer cells into immune
cells — such as t-cells — a transfer that may be the key to creating new drugs
to fight cancerous tumors.
Cerebrospinal fluid shows
Alzheimerżs disease deterioration much earlier
It is possible to determine which patients run a high risk of developing Alzheimer’s
disease and the dementia associated with it, even in patients with minimal memory
impairment. This has been shown by recent research at the Sahlgrenska Academy.The results
have been published in the most recent issue of the prestigious medical journal Lancet
Neurology. "The earlier we can catch Alzheimer’s disease, the more we can do for
the patient. The disease is one that progresses slowly, and the pharmaceuticals that are
currently available are only able to alleviate the symptoms", says Kaj Blennow,
professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy, and a world?leading researcher in the field.
Study finds that tobacco companies
changed design of cigarettes without alerting smokers
As President Obama prepares to sign a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
oversight of the tobacco industry, a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
researchers shows that tobacco manufacturers have continually changed the ingredients and
the design of their cigarettes over time, even if those changes have exceeded acceptable
product variance guidelines. The result, say the researchers, is that consumers who buy
the same brand of product are not made aware of how that product has been altered and what
effect those alterations might have on their levels of addiction or harm. "I hope the
FDA requires disclosure of any changes made to tobacco products and that the changes are
disallowed if shown to increase appeal, addiction and harm," said Greg Connolly,
director of the Tobacco Control Research Program at HSPH. The study appears in the
"Online First" section of the Journal of Tobacco Control and will appear in an
upcoming print issue of the journal. For their study, Connolly and lead author Geoffrey
Ferris Wayne, an HSPH researcher, studied internal tobacco company documents released
following the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. These documents describe significant
changes made to commercial products over time, including blend, processing, casing,
flavoring and physical design features. For example, new methods were developed to process
tobacco, altering the smoke chemistry and the form of nicotine delivery, and the levels of
processed tobaccos were regularly adjusted within brands. Despite the constant innovation
of tobacco products, which in many cases have exceeded the levels of acceptable variance
established within the tobacco industry, for the most part, these changes were not
disclosed to consumers, say the researchers. "Even incremental changes that occur
over a period of years can result in significant design differences. The resulting product
may have altered chemistry or delivery, yet the smoker is largely unaware of these
changes. This underscores the need for industry transparency and accountability,"
said Ferris Wayne.
Green tea may affect prostate
cancer progression
According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the
American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active
compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of
prostate cancer progression. "The investigational agent used in the trial, Polyphenon
E (provided by Polyphenon Pharma) may have the potential to lower the incidence and slow
the progression of prostate cancer," said James A. Cardelli, Ph.D., professor and
director of basic and translational research in the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU
Health Sciences Center-Shreveport. Green tea is the second most popular drink in the
world, and some epidemiological studies have shown health benefits with green tea,
including a reduced incidence of prostate cancer, according to Cardelli. However, some
human trials have found contradictory results. The few trials conducted to date have
evaluated the clinical efficacy of green tea consumption and few studies have evaluated
the change in biomarkers, which might predict disease progression. Cardelli and colleagues
conducted this open-label, single-arm, phase II clinical trial to determine the effects of
short-term supplementation with green tea's active compounds on serum biomarkers in
patients with prostate cancer. The biomarkers include hepatocyte growth factor (HGF),
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). HGF and
VEGF are good prognostic indicators of metastatic disease. The study included 26 men, aged
41 to 72 years, diagnosed with prostate cancer and scheduled for radical prostatectomy.
Patients consumed four capsules containing Polyphenon E until the day before surgery
— four capsules are equivalent to about 12 cups of normally brewed concentrated green
tea, according to Cardelli. The time of study for 25 of the 26 patients ranged from 12
days to 73 days, with a median time of 34.5 days. Findings showed a significant reduction
in serum levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA after treatment, with some patients demonstrating
reductions in levels of greater than 30 percent, according to the researchers.
Omega-3 fatty acids appear to
impact AMD progression
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may protect against
progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but the benefits appear to depend
on the stage of disease and whether certain supplements are taken, report researchers at
the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR), Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University. The researchers calculated intakes
of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) from dietary questionnaires
administered to 2,924 men and women, aged 55 to 80 years, participating in an eight-year
supplement trial, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) of the National Eye Institute
(NEI). The AREDS trial results suggest taking supplements of antioxidants plus zinc
prevents progression of late-stage AMD. AREDS study participants were randomly allocated
to receive either a placebo or supplements containing the antioxidants vitamins C and E
and beta carotene, the minerals zinc and copper, or a combination of both. "In our
study, we observed participants with early stages of AMD in the placebo group benefited
from higher intake of DHA, but it appears that the high-dose supplements of the
antioxidants and/or the minerals somehow interfered with the benefits of DHA against early
AMD progression," says senior author Allen Taylor, PhD, director of the LNVR at the
USDA HNRCA. Taylor is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and
Policy at Tufts and Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). The antioxidant
supplements did not seem to interfere with the protective effects of DHA and EPA against
progression to advanced stages of AMD. Participants who consumed higher amounts of DHA and
EPA appeared to have lower risk of progression to both wet and dry forms of advanced AMD.
The results are published on-line ahead of print in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
"Data from the present study also shows the supplements and omega-3 fatty acids
collaborate with low-dietary glycemic index (dGI) diets against progression to advanced
AMD," says corresponding author Chung-Jung Chiu, DDS, PhD, a scientist in the LNVR
and an assistant professor at TUSM. "Our previous research suggests a low-GI diet may
prevent AMD from progressing to the advanced stage. We hypothesize that the rapid rise of
blood glucose initiated by high-GI foods results in cellular damage that retinal cells
cannot handle, thus damaging eye tissues." dGI is a scale used to determine how
quickly carbohydrates are broken down into blood sugar, also known as blood glucose. Foods
such as sweetened drinks, sodas and white bread are high-GI because they trigger a sharp
rise and fall of blood sugar. Low-GI foods, such as whole grain versions of pasta and
bread, have a milder effect on blood sugar response. Earlier data published by Taylor and
Chiu suggests that daily substitution of five slices of whole grain bread for white bread
out of a total intake of 250 g of carbohydrate might cut out almost 8% of advanced AMD
over five years. This is readily achievable with little diet behavior modification.
Could older population have enough
exposure to past H1N1 flu strains to avoid infection?
A letter to the editor by Rhode Island Hospital infectious diseases specialist Leonard
Mermel, DO, identifies characteristics of the outbreak of H1N1 in 1977 and speculates its
impact on this pandemic. His letter is published in the June 20 edition of the journal the
Lancet 2009 (vol 373 p2108-09).Mermel notes that in the late 1970s, an influenza H1N1
reappeared in humans. It had a pandemic-like spread that began in younger aged
individuals. This strain, known as the "Russian flu" H1N1, was similar to H1N1
strains that circulated internationally between 1946 and 1957. The Russian flu spread
rapidly across the former Soviet Union, initially affecting individuals between the ages
of 14 and 20 in schools, as well as young military personnel, and later spread to
preschool children. Individuals older than age 30, however, had dramatically lower attack
rates and the overall mortality was low. The epidemic peaked rapidly, with a relatively
short duration. In the United States, the first outbreak of the Russian flu occurred in a
Wyoming high school. The attack rate there was over 70 percent, however, it affected
students only; no faculty were reported to have the illness. High attack rates were seen
in schools as well as military bases throughout the United States, similar to the outbreak
in Russia. There were few reports of the H1N1 strain in individuals older than age 26, and
again, the mortality rate was low. In his commentary, Mermel hypothesizes that the H1N1
strain circulating now may have enough similarity to the previously circulating H1N1
strains or the H1N1 used in past vaccines so that it may lead to protection of older
individuals. He concludes by noting that the weeks ahead should help us to determine if
this will be the case.
Study highlights massive imbalances
in global fertilizer use
Synthetic fertilizers have dramatically increased food production worldwide. But the
unintended costs to the environment and human health have been substantial. Nitrogen
runoff from farms has contaminated surface and groundwater and helped create massive
"dead zones" in coastal areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. And ammonia from
fertilized cropland has become a major source of air pollution, while emissions of nitrous
oxide form a potent greenhouse gas.These and other negative environmental impacts have led
some researchers and policymakers to call for reductions in the use of synthetic
fertilizers. But in a report published in the June 19 issue of the journal Science, an
international team of ecologists and agricultural experts warns against a
"one-size-fits-all" approach to managing global food production. "Most
agricultural systems follow a trajectory from too little in the way of added nutrients to
too much, and both extremes have substantial human and environmental costs," said
lead author Peter Vitousek, a professor of biology at Stanford University and senior
fellow at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment. "Some parts of the world,
including much of China, use far too much fertilizer," Vitousek said. "But in
sub-Saharan Africa, where 250 million people remain chronically malnourished, nitrogen,
phosphorus and other nutrient inputs are inadequate to maintain soil fertility."
New supplement may help slow sight
loss in elderly
Queen's University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which
may slow down sight loss in elderly people. The supplement may help those affected by the
leading cause of blindness in the Western World, a five-year research programme has found.
Professor Usha Chakravarthy, from Queen’s Centre of Vision and Vascular Science
(CVVS), co-ordinated the study, which looked at nutritional supplements for patients with
early age-related macular (AMD) degeneration and found they helped sharpen vision. Details
of the findings are being presented in Belfast today (Friday) by Professor Chakravarthy
and Dr Stephen Beatty, Head of Vision Research at Waterford Institute of Technology.
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