- - European weblog on food, health and environment
News - Week 24 - 2009
International Serious Adverse
Events Consortium announces initial study results in its global research collaboration to
identify genetic markers related to drug induced liver injury
The International Serious Adverse Events Consortium (SAEC) announced today initial results
from its research designed to discover genetic markers that may predict individuals at
risk for serious drug induced liver injury (DILI). The SAEC is a nonprofit research
corporation, launched in the fall of 2007, comprised of and funded by 10 leading
pharmaceutical companies and the Wellcome Trust. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) also contributes to the scientific and strategic direction of this novel research
effort. The collection and initial characterization of the DILI cases supporting these
results was performed by the UK-based DILIGEN network, led by Professor Ann Daly and
colleagues at Newcastle University, but also involving researchers at the University of
Liverpool and at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham. Patients respond differently to
medicines, and all medicines can have adverse effects in some people. The SAEC's work is
based on the hypothesis that many of these differences have a genetic basis. Its research
studies are exploring the impact genetics can have on how individuals respond to
medicines. There are a large number of drugs that can cause liver injury in a very small
subset of patients, and in rare cases this may lead to acute liver failure. Although the
exact mechanisms behind such rare and unpredictable DILI is unknown, research suggests a
genetic contribution. In a Nature Genetics paper published on May 31, the SAEC and
Newcastle University's analysis of a subset of DNA patients has led to the discovery that
HLA-B*5701 is a major determinant of liver injury induced by flucloxacillin.
Flucloxacillin is an antibiotic widely used in Europe and Australia, mainly in the
treatment of staphylococcal infections. HLA-B is one of a number of highly variable genes
responsible for immune function. The study found that individuals carrying at least one
copy of HLA-B*5701 were 80-100 times more likely than non-carriers to develop DILI in
response to this antibiotic. This risk-associated variant is relatively common in Europe,
but less prevalent in Africa and East Asia. In addition to HLA-B*5701, variations on
chromosome 3 were also found to influence the risk for DILI. These findings provide
initial insights into the mechanism of DILI and may have the potential to help identify
individuals who have an increased risk for flucloxacillin related liver injury. Despite
being at substantially higher risk than non-carriers, only a small proportion of carriers
actually develop liver problems in response to flucloxacillin. Thus, further analysis and
research will be needed to determine whether a clinically useful biomarker test could be
developed for this susceptibility.
Do You Really Know Where Your Food
Comes From?
Farming has become an occupation and
cultural force of the past. Michael Pollan's talk promoted the premise -- and hope -- that
farming can become an occupation and force of the future. In the past century American
farmers were given the assignment to produce lots of calories cheaply, and they did. They
became the most productive humans on earth. A single farmer in Iowa could feed 150 of his
neighbors. That is a true modern miracle. "American farmers are incredibly inventive,
innovative, and accomplished. They can do whatever we ask them, we just need to give them
a new set of requirements."
The Secret - Planet Earth HD
The Secret Team has created a gift for you.
This clip features our beautiful Planet Earth. As you experience this clip you will emit
positive forces of energy across Planet Earth that will reach every single living thing on
it. You will lift yourself, and as you lift yourself, you lift the entire world. The
magnificent music was composed and graciously gifted for this clip by composer Jo
Blankenburg.
dank voor deze tip Mira. Prachtig!
Liefs, Ron
Romania: US pork producer giant
causes local farmers problems
REPORT: In Romania, local farmers had high
hopes when top US pork producer Smithfield Foods decided to invest in the country, near
the town of Timisoara. But two years later, it only seems to have caused sanitary and
health problems.
Penn researchers discover genetic
risk factor for testicular cancer
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have uncovered variation
around two genes that are associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer.
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men, and its incidence among
non-Hispanic Caucasian men has doubled in the last 40 years -- it now affects seven out of
100,000 white men in the United States each year. The discovery, published in the May 31,
2009 online issue of Nature Genetics, is the first step toward understanding which men are
at high risk of disease. "Despite being quite heritable, there really have not been
any clear genetic risk factor that can account for most cases of testicular cancer,"
says Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, an assistant professor of Medicine and a specialist in
medical genetics at the Abramson Cancer Center. "These variants are the first
striking genetic risk factors found for this disease to date." Nathanson and
co-author Peter A. Kanetsky, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor of Epidemiology, found that
men who have two copies of the common version of the c-KIT ligand (KITLG) gene have a
4.5-fold higher risk of testicular cancer than men who have two copies of the less common
or minor version of the gene. Additionally, men with two copies of the common version of
variants next to another gene, sprouty 4 (SPRY4), have a 1.48-fold higher risk than men
with two copies of the less common version of the gene. While researchers suspect
environmental exposures may play a part in the growing incidence, they now know that an
individual's genes also play a major role in disease susceptibility. "This finding is
quite different than those observed in many other genome-wide association studies,"
Nathanson says. "In most studies, the increased risk of disease is associated with
the less common variant of the gene. In this case, it is the more common variant in
Caucasians that is associated with risk. If you carry two copies of the less common
variant you are probably at incredibly low risk."
Combined stem cell-gene therapy
approach cures human genetic disease in vitro
A study led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has catapulted
the field of regenerative medicine significantly forward, proving in principle that a
human genetic disease can be cured using a combination of gene therapy and induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. The study, published in the May 31, 2009 early
online edition of Nature, is a major milestone on the path from the laboratory to the
clinic. "It's been ten years since human stem cells were first cultured in a Petri
dish," says the study's leader Juan-Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, Ph.D., a professor in
the Gene Expression Laboratory and director of the Center of Regenerative Medicine in
Barcelona (CMRB), Spain. "The hope in the field has always been that we'll be able to
correct a disease genetically and then make iPS cells that differentiate into the type of
tissue where the disease is manifested and bring it to clinic." Although several
studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the approach in mice, its feasibility in humans
had not been established. The Salk study offers the first proof that this technology can
work in human cells. Belmonte's team, working with Salk colleague Inder Verma, Ph.D., a
professor in the Laboratory of Genetics, and colleagues at the CMRB, and the CIEMAT in
Madrid, Spain, decided to focus on Fanconi anemia (FA), a genetic disorder responsible for
a series of hematological abnormalities that impair the body's ability to fight infection,
deliver oxygen, and clot blood. Caused by mutations in one of 13 Fanconi anemia (FA)
genes, the disease often leads to bone marrow failure, leukemia, and other cancers. Even
after receiving bone marrow transplants to correct the hematological problems, patients
remain at high risk of developing cancer and other serious health conditions.
Obesity and diabetes double risk of
HF -- patients with both conditions 'very difficult' to treat
The twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes will continue to fuel an explosion in
heart failure, already the world's most prevalent chronic cardiovascular disease,
according to John McMurray, professor of cardiology at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, and
President of the Heart Failure Association. He reported that around one-third of patients
with heart failure have evidence of diabetes, and for them the outlook is very serious.
For doctors, he added, effective treatment is "very difficult". Obesity, like
diabetes, is increasing in prevalence. The latest report from Euroaspire, Europe's largest
survey of cardiovascular risk factors in coronary patients, found that the prevalence of
obesity had increased from 25 per cent in 1997 to 38 per cent in just ten years – and
this in people who had already had at least one heart attack. Now, a session at Heart
Failure 2009 emphasises that obesity is not just associated with an increased risk of
heart attack, but also – and especially - with an increased risk of heart failure.1,2
"Obesity is at least as great a risk factor for heart failure as it is for heart
attack or stroke," says Professor McMurray. "Obesity more than doubles the
risk." The pathways by which obesity plays such a role in heart failure are not yet
fully understood, but have been shown to have an indirect effect via hypertension, or
heart attack, or diabetes – and a direct effect on the heart muscle itself. "We
know that the underlying changes in the structure and function of the heart may be
different in obese and non-obese patients with heart failure," says Professor
McMurray. An even more "intriguing" suggestion, he added, is that adipose cells
might act as an endocrine tissue, secreting substances which may have a harmful effect on
heart tissue and blood vessels.
Pressure to Look Attractive Linked
to Fear of Rejection in Men and Women
People who feel pressure to look attractive are more fearful of being rejected because of
their appearance than are their peers, according to a new study by researchers at the
University at Buffalo and the University of Kent. The study of appearance-based rejection
sensitivity among college students was conducted by Lora Park, Ph.D., assistant professor
of psychology and graduate student Ann Marie DiRaddo, of the University at Buffalo, and
Rachel Calogero, Ph.D., a lecturer in psychology at the University of Kent. It was
published in the spring edition of Psychology of Women Quarterly (Vo. 33, Issue 1), a
publication of the American Psychological Association. The researchers found that overall
women showed greater sensitivity to appearance rejection than did men. This was
particularly true of women who fe lt they needed to look attractive in order to be
accepted by their peers. The study also found that men and women who had internalized
media ideals of attractiveness had higher levels of appearance-based rejection sensitivity
than did their peers.
Researchers Develop Light-Treatment
Device to Improve Sleep Quality in the Elderly
Sleep disturbances increase as we age. Some studies report more than half of seniors 65
years of age or older suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. Researchers have long
believed that the sleep disturbances common among the elderly often result from a
disruption of the body’s circadian rhythms — biological cycles that repeat
approximately every 24 hours. In recent years, scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute’s Lighting Research Center and elsewhere have demonstrated that blue light
is the most effective at stimulating the circadian system when combined with the
appropriate light intensity, spatial distribution, timing, and duration. A team at the
Lighting Research Center (LRC) has tested a goggle-like device designed to deliver blue
light directly to the eyes to improve sleep quality in older adults. “Light and dark
patterns are the major synchronizer of circadian rhythms to the 24-hour solar day,”
said Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., Lighting Research Center Light and Health Program director
and principal investigator on the project. “Light stimulus travels through the
retina, the light-sensitive nerve tissue lining the back wall of the eye, to reach the
master clock in the brain. However, a combination of age-related changes in the eye and a
more sedentary lifestyle may reduce the amount of light stimulus reaching an older
person’s retina, therefore reducing the amount of light for the circadian
system.”
GI news
Who really needs a gluten-free diet?
5 tips to reduce your risk of diabetes
More bang for your exercise buck with low GI foods
Mushrooms and cancer
Two low GI recipes to try
Prof Trim’s 5-point fitness test
GI database updated
GI table of 60 common foods
Most Common Brain Cancer May
Originate in Neural Stem Cells
University of Michigan scientists have found that a deficiency in a key tumor suppressor
gene in the brain leads to the most common type of adult brain cancer. The study,
conducted in mice that mimic human cancer, points the way to more effective future
treatments and a way to screen for the disease early.
Findings in Epilepsy Gene in
Animals May Help Direct Treatment in Infants
Researchers studying a difficult-to-treat form of childhood epilepsy called infantile
spasms have developed a line of mice that experiences seizures with features closely
resembling those occurring in patients with infantile seizures. These genetically
engineered mice provide a new opportunity for scientists to test treatments that may
benefit children. Approximately one out of every 100 infants has a seizure. Many of them
go on to have epilepsy—characterized by recurrent seizures. One obstacle to
developing better therapies for children has been the lack of a good animal model,”
said study leader Jeffrey A. Golden, M.D., pathologist-in-chief at The Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia. Golden’s team described a new mouse model for infantile
spasms on May 12 in an online study in the journal Brain. Infantile spasms are a type of
seizure that occurs in an estimated 1 in 2000 to 1 in 6000 babies, with onset between ages
three months and one year. During the seizures, infants have jerking movements and
abnormal brain waves (seen on EEGs). “Children with infantile spasms often have a
poor developmental outcome,” said Golden. “Despite current treatment, many
children with infantile spasms go on to develop lifelong epilepsy and varying degrees of
mental retardation.”Finding a treatment for infantile spasms is crucial. “If we
could better treat the infantile spasms, it is very possible some of these later problems
could be prevented,” added Golden.
When Adult Patients Have Anxiety
Disorder, Their Children Need Help Too
In what is believed to be the first U.S. study designed to prevent anxiety disorders in
the children of anxious parents, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center
have found that a family-based program reduced symptoms and the risk of developing an
anxiety disorder among these children. Despite its small size, the study suggests that as
few as eight weekly family sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy go a long way to
prevent or minimize the psychological damage of childhood anxiety. Results of the study
will appear in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
“If psychiatrists or family doctors diagnose anxiety in adult patients, it’s now
clearly a good idea that they ask about the patients’ children and, if appropriate,
refer them for evaluation,” says senior investigator Golda Ginsburg, Ph.D., a child
psychologist at Hopkins Children’s and associate professor of psychiatry at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine. “Right now, most doctors don’t think about this, let
alone broach the subject.”Ginsburg says data show that the children of parents
diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are up to seven times more likely to develop an anxiety
disorder themselves, and up to 65 percent of children living with an anxious parent meet
criteria for an anxiety disorder. Prevention, rather than treatment, of childhood anxiety
is critical because anxiety disorders affect one in five U.S. children but often go
unrecognized, according to a recent editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Delay in diagnosis and treatment can lead to depression, substance abuse and poor academic
performance throughout childhood and well into adulthood.
Researchers First to Link
Intestinal Inflammation with Systemic Chromosome Damage
UCLA scientists have linked for the first time intestinal inflammation with systemic
chromosome damage in mice, a finding that may lead to the early identification and
treatment of human inflammatory disorders, some of which increase risk for several types
of cancer. Researchers found that local intestinal inflammation induced DNA damage to
lymphocytes of the peripheral blood circulating throughout the body. This means that
chromosome damage was not limited to the intestine, but involved tissues of the body
distant from the site of inflammation. The team found single- and double-strand DNA breaks
in the blood, and chromosome damage in peripheral blood indicating systemic genetic
damage.Inflammatory diseases have been linked to some lymphomas and abdominal, liver and
colorectal cancers, said Robert Schiestl, a professor of pathology, radiation oncology and
environmental health sciences and a Jonsson Cancer Center scientist. If inflammation can
be found early – before any symptoms arise - and the diseases treated immediately, it
may prevent the damage that eventually leads to these cancers, he said.
Dr Phil Bate - how to prevent
Autism
Dr Phil Bate, retired Orthomolecular
Psychologist, has discovered a safe and inexpensive method to Prevent Autism... by
considering the mercury load of the mother and its impact on her developing baby. For more
information on preventing autism, please go to DrBate's website, www.drbate.com
The Ghost In Your Genes
The scientists who believe your genes are
shaped in part by your ancestors' life experiences. Biology stands on the brink of a shift
in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics hidden influences upon
the genes could affect every aspect of our lives. At the heart of this new field is a
simple but contentious idea that genes have a 'memory'. That the lives of your
grandparents the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw can
directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself.
And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren.The
conventional view is that DNA carries all our heritable information and that nothing an
individual does in their lifetime will be biologically passed to their children. To many
scientists, epigenetics amounts to a heresy, calling into question the accepted view of
the DNA sequence a cornerstone on which modern biology sits. Epigenetics adds a whole new
layer to genes beyond the DNA. It proposes a control system of 'switches' that turn genes
on or off and suggests that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, can
control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans. In a remote town in northern
Sweden there is evidence for this radical idea. Lying in Överkalix's parish registries of
births and deaths and its detailed harvest records is a secret that confounds traditional
scientific thinking. Marcus Pembrey, a Professor of Clinical Genetics at the Institute of
Child Health in London, in collaboration with Swedish researcher Lars Olov Bygren, has
found evidence in these records of an environmental effect being passed down the
generations. They have shown that a famine at critical times in the lives of the
grandparents can affect the life expectancy of the grandchildren. This is the first
evidence that an environmental effect can be inherited in humans.
The real designer dogs
designer dogs are thrown in shelters
everyday because they were not sold fast enough for a BackYardBreeder. dont buy from them
because eventually they will have to stop breeding them! if they dont get that extra cash.
why pay 15,000.00 for a mutt with a fancy name when you could pick up that mutts relative
at the shelter? designer dogs do have more health issues and temperament problems than
purebreds from reputable breeders that do not engage in inbreeding.
Prescription Drug Abuse: Narconon
Drug Rehab Warns of Abuse and Addiction
Almost 48 million Americans have used a
prescription drug nonmedically at least once in their lifetimes. Narconon Drug Rehab warns
that the nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs is a serious and growing public
health problem in this country. The elderly are among those most vulnerable to
prescription drug abuse or misuse because they are prescribed more medications than their
younger counterparts. Most people take prescription medications responsibly; however, an
estimated 48 million people (ages 12 and older) have used prescription drugs for
nonmedical reasons in their lifetimes. This represents approximately 20 percent of the
U.S. population. Also alarming is the fact that the 2004 National Institute on Drug
Abuse's (NIDA's) Monitoring the Future survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th-graders found that
9.3 percent of 12th-graders reported using Vicodin without a prescription in the past
year, and 5.0 percent reported using OxyContin - making these medications among the
most commonly abused prescription drugs by adolescents.
Toxins, The Silent Killer
What are the toxins doing to your health?
Toxicity is a contributing factor in these and other conditions: Attention Deficit
Disorder, Autism, Alzheimer's Disease, Asthma, Arthritis, Cancer, Heart Diseases. That's
just to name a few!
Medical Group Calls for Ban on
Genetically Modified Foods
The American Academy of Environmental
Medicine has called for a moratorium on genetically modified foods. The medical
organization warned that genetically modified foods pose a serious health risk in the
areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic,
physiologic and genetic health. Dr. Amy Dean said, "Multiple animal studies have
shown that GM foods cause damage to various organ systems in the body. With this mounting
evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM foods for the safety of our patients
and the publics health.
Stem cell protein offers a new
cancer target
A protein abundant in embryonic stem cells is now shown to be important in cancer, and
offers a possible new target for drug development, report researchers from the Stem Cell
Program at Children's Hospital Boston. Last year, George Daley, MD, PhD, and graduate
student Srinivas Viswanathan, in collaboration with Richard Gregory, PhD, also of the Stem
Cell Program at Children's, showed that the protein LIN28 regulates an important group of
tumor-suppressing microRNAs known as let-7. Increasig LIN28 production in a cell prevented
let-7 from maturing, making the cell more immature and stem-like. Since these qualities
also make a cell more cancerous, and because low levels of mature let-7 have been
associated with breast and lung cancer, the discovery suggested that LIN28 might be
oncogenic. Now, publishing Advance Online in Nature Genetics on May 31, Daley, Viswanathan
and colleagues show directly that LIN28 can transform cells to a cancerous state, and that
it is abundant in a variety of advanced human cancers, particularly liver cancer, ovarian
cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, germ cell tumors and Wilm's tumor (a childhood kidney
cancer). They believe that overall, LIN28 and a related protein, LIN28B, may be involved
in some 15 percent of human cancers. By blocking or suppressing LIN28, it might be
possible to revive the let-7 family's natural tumor-suppressing action. "Linking this
protein to advanced cancer is a very exciting new result," says Daley, Director of
Stem Cell Transplantation at Children's, and also affiliated with Children's Division of
Hematology/Oncology, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
"It gives us a new target to attack, especially in the most resistant and
hard-to-treat cases." LIN28, which is abundant in embryonic stem cells and prevents
them from differentiating into specific cell types, was originally discovered to influence
embryonic development in worms some 25 years ago. Development, stem cell generation and
carcinogenesis are known to be closely related, but until last year's study connected
LIN28 to let-7, it hadn't been clear how.
Protein linked to mental
retardation controls synapse maturation, plasticity, CSHL team finds
A team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has demonstrated the
mechanism by which a signaling protein found throughout the brain controls the maturation
and strength of excitatory synapses, the tiny gaps across which the majority of neurons
communicate. The discovery is important, in part, because deficits of the signaling
protein in question, called oligophrenin-1 (OPHN1), have been previously linked with
X-linked mental retardation. Indeed, problems at the synapse -- in their formation and in
the mechanisms through which the strength, or plasticity, of their connections are
regulated -- are thought to contribute to numerous mental and neurological disorders.
"Great progress has been made in recent years in the identification of chromosomal
abnormalities and genetic changes involved in mental retardation (MR)," says
Professor Linda Van Aelst, Ph.D., who led the CSHL research team. "We know of at
least 280 genes that are implicated, in fact. But what we have not done, to date, is
connect the genetic abnormalities associated with MR to biological processes that
establish and modify the function of neuronal circuits." That has been a major
objective of studies in Van Aelst's lab, where previous experiments have shown that
"knocking-down" expression of the gene that encodes the production of the OPHN1
protein (the gene is designated by the italic OPHN1) causes a potentially important change
in neuronal structure. Small knob-like features, called dendritic spines, that protrude
from a neuron's branch-like dendrites, typically receive signals across synapses from the
axons of other neurons. Those spines were found to be abnormally short and misshapen when
expression of the OPHN1 gene was acutely reduced.
Overweight male teens with normal
blood pressures showing signs of heart damage
Even while their blood pressures are still normal, overweight male teens may have elevated
levels of a hormone known to increase pressures as well as early signs of heart damage,
researchers say. Medical College of Georgia researchers looking at 126 healthy 15-
to17-year-olds in high school in Augusta, Ga., found the hormone aldosterone highest among
the overweight males. Early intervention could help these young people avoid growing up to
be adults with cardiovascular disease, the number one killer in the United States.
"These associations give us reason to question whether we should be screening for and
treating high aldosterone in obese males with normal pressures, particularly those with a
family history of cardiovascular disease," MCG Endocrinology Fellow Dayal D. Raja
says of the collaborative study with the Department of Pediatrics.
Newly discovered reactions from an
old drug may lead to new antibiotics
A mineral found at health food stores could be the key to developing a new line of
antibiotics for bacteria that commonly cause diarrhea, tooth decay and, in some severe
cases, death. The trace mineral selenium is found in a number of proteins in both
bacterial cells and human cells called selenoproteins. University of Central Florida
Associate Professor William Self's research shows that interrupting the way selenoproteins
are made can halt the growth of the super bug Clostridium difficile and Treponema
denticola, a major contributor to gum disease. Infections of Clostridium difficile
(commonly known as C-diff) lead to a spectrum of illnesses ranging from severe diarrhea to
colitis, which can cause death. It's a life-threatening problem in hospitals and nursing
homes worldwide, and the number of cases is on the rise. There are an estimated 500,000
cases per year in the United States alone. Between 15,000 to 20,000 people die each year
while infected with this superbug. Treponema denticola is one of leading causes of gum
disease and costs individuals thousands of dollars in dental care each year. Self's
findings are published in the May and June editions of the Journal of Biological Inorganic
Chemistry and the Journal of Bacteriology. The National Institutes of Health and the
Florida Department of Health funded the research, which was conducted at UCF during the
past three years. "It's the proof of principle that we are excited about," Self
said from his research lab at UCF. "No one has ever tried this approach, and it could
potentially be a source for new narrow spectrum antibiotics that block bacteria that
require selenium to grow." The key discovery occurred when the team found that the
gold drug Auranofin, used to treat arthritis, impacted selenium's metabolism process. The
chemical reaction changes the selenium, which prevents bacteria from using it to grow.
Auranofin is an FDA-approved gold salt compound that is used to control inflammation and
is already known to inhibit the activity of certain selenoproteins. Since certain
bacteria, such as C. difficile, require selenoproteins for energy metabolism, the drug
acts as a potent antimicrobial halting the growth of the bacteria.
Commonly used medications may
produce cognitive impairment in older adults
Many drugs commonly prescribed to older adults for a variety of common medical conditions
including allergies, hypertension, asthma, and cardiovascular disease appear to negatively
affect the aging brain causing immediate but possibly reversible cognitive impairment,
including delirium, in older adults according to a clinical review now available online in
the Journal of Clinical Interventions in Aging, a peer reviewed, open access publication.
Drugs, such as diphenhydramine, which have an anticholinergic effect, are important
medical therapies available by prescription and also are sold over the counter under
various brand names such as Benadryl®, Dramamine®, Excederin PM®, Nytol®, Sominex®,
Tylenol PM®, and Unisom®. Older adults most commonly use drugs with anticholinergic
effects as sleep aids. While it is known that these medications do have an effect on the
brain and in the case of sleeping pills, are prescribed to act on the brain, the study
authors suggest the amount of cognitive impairment caused by the drugs in older adults is
not well recognized. "The public, physicians, and even the Food and Drug
Administration, need to be made aware of the role of these common medications, and others
with anticholinergic effects, in causing cognitive impairment. Patients should write down
and tell their doctor which over-the-counter drugs they are taking. Doctors, who often
think of these medications simply as antihistamines, antidepressants, antihypertensives,
sleep aids or even itching remedies, need to recognize their systemic anticholinergic
properties and the fact that they appear to impact brain health negatively. Doing so, and
prescribing alternative medications, should improve both the health and quality of life of
older adults," said senior study author Malaz Boustani, M.D., Indiana University
School of Medicine associate professor of medicine, Regenstrief Institute investigator,
and research scientist with the IU Center for Aging Research.
New device detects heart disease
using less than one drop of blood
Testing people for heart disease might be just a finger prick away thanks to a new credit
card-sized device created by a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern
universities in Boston. In a research report published online in The FASEB Journal
(http://www.fasebj.org), they describe how this device can measure and collect a type of
cells needed to build vascular tissue, called endothelial progenitor cells, using only 200
microliters of blood. The development is also significant because it allows scientists to
collect these cells much more easily than current techniques allow, bringing
laboratory-created tissue for vascular bypass surgeries another step closer to reality.
"This simple device is a promising tool for the pediatric and adult population in
detecting, diagnosing, monitoring, and providing the option of treating cardiovascular
disease by utilizing a small quantity of blood," said lead researcher Shashi K.
Murthy of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston. To
collect the cells, the device works similar to Velcro™ or a magnet. Specifically, the
inside is coated with antibodies that only bind to endothelial progenitor cells. Blood
flows through the device through a funnel-like opening (except the blood enters through
the narrow end and exits through the wide end), passes over the antibodies, and
endothelial progenitor cells are "picked up" in the process. In addition to
allowing researchers to collect cells from a very small amount of blood, the device's
design also provides researchers with a new model to study the effects that blood flow in
the body has on cell binding (like clots form in arteries).
Wet ear wax and unpleasant body
odors signal breast cancer risk
If having malodorous armpits (called osmidrosis) and goopy earwax isn't bad enough, a
discovery by Japanese scientists may add a more serious problem for women facing these
cosmetic calamities. That's because they've found that a gene responsible for breast
cancer causes these physical symptoms. The report describing this finding is featured on
the cover of The FASEB Journal's June 2009 print issue (http://www.fasebj.org), and should
arm physicians with another clue for detecting breast cancer risk. "We do strongly
hope that our study will provide a new tool for better predication of breast cancer risk
by genotyping," said Toshihisa Ishikawa, Ph.D., a professor from the Department of
Biomolecular Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the senior researcher
involved in the work. "Using a rapid and cost-effective typing method presented in
this study would provide a practical tool for pharmacogenomics-based personalized
medicine." To draw their conclusions, Ishikawa and colleagues monitored the
activities of a protein created by a gene associated with breast cancer, called
"ABCC11." By studying this gene and its complex cellular and molecular
interactions in the body, the researchers discovered a distinct link between the gene and
excessively smelly armpits and wet, sticky earwax. Specifically, the researchers expressed
the ABCC11 gene and variant proteins in cultured human embryonic kidney cells and showed
exactly how the ABCC11 gene produces the wet-type earwax and excessive armpit odor. This
discovery could lead to practical tools for clinicians—especially those in developing
nations—to rapidly identify who may have a higher risk for breast cancer. "Wet,
sticky earwax might not be easily noticed, but most people can't miss unpleasant body
odors," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "As
it turns out, the type of ear wax one has is linked to a gene that leads to bad odors from
one's armpit. These may become lifesaving clues to the early detection and treatment of
breast cancer."
B12 lowers high blood pressure
For high blood pressure (AKA hypertension)
B12 (injection or nasal spray or sublingual pills) will lower high blood pressure in most
women to "normal" levels within 20-30 minutes.
I was the first to report this in the
Orthomolecular Journal in 1982. For almost all women I have advised since that time who
have actually tried this, their blood pressure came down to "normal" range
within a half hour or so after an injection. I usually advise to try 0.50 ml (50 cc) on an
insulin needle) to begin with. The usual B12 for injection is "cyanocobalamin".
A better one is "hydroxycobalamin", but I've found that few drugstores or
hospitals carry this newer form. (Perhaps because MD's and hospital staff don't know
enough about vitamins.) The nasal and sublingual B12 does not work nearly as fast or as
well, but it can probably be used for maintenance. And, you can get these forms in most
good health food stores without prescription. There are no known bad side effects as with
prescription drugs!
For men, niacin probably works better than
most anti-hypertensive drugs. The only side-effect is a harmless one of what is often
described as a "flush". NUTZ! For me, and lots of other people it's like a
moderate to severe sunburn, and it can last up to a half hour on some. The only way is to
start with small doses, and gradually work up to large doses. (By the way - this niacin
also works for women). Niacin also has another good effect - it lowers cholesterol.
CSHL researchers unravel how a
protein helps nerve cells recycle synaptic vesicles
Brain cells, or neurons, transmit electrical signals efficiently only when they recycle
tiny cellular sacs that store signaling chemicals called neurotransmitters. When a neuron
is stimulated, the sacs are expelled into the synapse—the tiny junction between nerve
cells—where they release the chemicals, which neighboring cells in turn soak
up.Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) report that the recycling of these
sacs, or vesicles, is controlled by a protein whose lack of function has been known to
cause a brain developmental disorder called X-linked mental retardation (XLMR). This
protein, called oligophrenin-1 (OPHN1), is defective in patients with XLMR because of
mutations in the OPHN1 gene, one of more than 280 genes that have been associated, to
date, with mental retardation. "But how this protein's lack of function affects brain
circuits and development was a mystery because we didn't know what its role is in healthy
brains," explains CSHL Professor Linda Van Aelst, Ph.D., who led the research team
that reported their findings online ahead of print on May 28th in the journal Current
Biology.
U of Minnesota study says confusion
reigns over whole-grain claims in school lunches
While most nutrition experts agree that school lunches should include more whole-grain
products, a new study from the University of Minnesota finds that food-service workers
lack understanding and the resources to meet that goal. The study, which involved school
food-service directors from across Minnesota, appears in the current issue of the Journal
of Child Nutrition and Management. Because they serve so many meals to children each day,
school food-service directors have a major influence on students' food choices and in turn
their overall health, the authors note. Most experts recommend at least three servings of
whole-grain foods a day, but American children fall far short of that goal, averaging
about one serving per day. The U of M researchers found that while food-service workers
are aware of the health benefits of whole-grain foods, they aren't always sure whether a
food product meets whole-grain criteria. The directors also cited higher costs and
difficulty finding vendors who sold whole-grain products. The latest study is part of an
ongoing series in which researchers from the university are measuring awareness of whole
grains and testing ways to incorporate them into children's diets, particularly in school
nutrition programs.
Indirect transmission can trigger
influenza outbreaks in birds
New data on the persistence of avian influenza viruses in the environment has allowed a
team of University of Georgia researchers to create the first model that takes into
account both direct and indirect transmission of the viruses among birds. The model, which
is detailed in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, has the potential to shed new light on how outbreaks begin in wild bird
populations. "The environmental transmission of avian influenza among birds is quite
rare, but our model shows that it can play an important role in outbreaks," said lead
author Pejman Rohani, professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology. "There are
situations where ignoring the possibility of environmental transmission would cause you to
significantly underestimate the probability, magnitude and duration of an outbreak."
Rohani explained that current models of avian influenza only take into account the direct
transmission of the virus that occurs when infected waterfowl and shorebirds shed the
virus in their feces and those nearby drink contaminated water. But research in the UGA
College of Veterinary Medicine has revealed that some avian influenza viruses can persist
in water for up to 150 days. So even when no infected birds are present, Rohani said,
virus present in the water can trigger an outbreak. Models that only take into account
direct transmission, he pointed out, would incorrectly conclude that there's no risk of an
outbreak when no infected birds are present. The viruses the researchers studied are known
as low-pathogenicity viruses and do not infect humans. Low-path viruses only cause mild
symptoms in birds but have the potential to swap genes and give rise to high pathogenicity
viruses that can cause massive die-offs in poultry and—in rare cases—can infect
humans. The H5N1 avian influenza virus, for example, has a 60 percent mortality rate in
humans and is responsible for 262 deaths worldwide since 2003, according to the World
Health Organization. "We need to understand low-path viruses because they are a
storehouse of genetic variation that can give rise to new and potentially dangerous
strains," said study co-author John Drake, assistant professor of ecology.
Researchers engineer metabolic
pathway in mice to prevent diet-induced obesity
In recent years, obesity has taken on epidemic proportions in developed nations,
contributing significantly to major medical problems, early death and rising health care
costs. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, at least a
quarter of all American adults and more than 15 percent of children and adolescents are
obese.While recent research advances and treatment methods have had little effect in
reducing obesity levels, researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and
Applied Science, in collaboration with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, may
have discovered a completely new way to approach the problem. In a study to be published
in the June 3 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, chemical and biomolecular engineering
professor James Liao, associate professor of human genetics and pediatrics Katrina Dipple
and their research team demonstrate how they successfully constructed a non-native pathway
in mice that increased fatty acid metabolism and resulted in resistance to diet-induced
obesity. "When we looked at the fatty-acid metabolism issue, we noted there are two
aspects of the problem that needed to be addressed," Liao said. "One is the
regulation; fatty acid metabolism is highly regulated. The other is digestion of the fatty
acid; there needs to be a channel to burn this fat." "We came up with an
unconventional idea which we borrowed from plants and bacteria," said Jason Dean, a
graduate student on Liao's team and an author of the study. "We know plants and
bacteria digest fats differently from humans, from mammals. Plant seeds usually store a
lot of fat. When they germinate, they convert the fat to sugar to grow. The reason they
can digest fat this way is because they have a set of enzymes that's uniquely present in
plants and bacteria. These enzymes are called the 'glyoxylate shunt' and are missing in
mammals." To investigate the effects of the glyoxylate shunt on fatty acid metabolism
in mammals, Liao's team cloned bacteria genes from Escherichia coli that would enable the
shunt, then introduced the cloned E. coli genes into the mitochondria of liver cells in
mice; mitochondria are where fatty acids are burned in cells.
Exercise more, not less, to ease
aching back
People with lower back pain are better off exercising more, not less. A University of
Alberta study of 240 men and women with chronic lower-back pain showed that those who
exercised four days a week had a better quality of life, 28 per cent less pain and 36 per
cent less disability, while those who hit the gym only two or three days a week did not
show the same level of change. "While it could be assumed that someone with back pain
should not be exercising frequently, our findings show that working with weights four days
a week provides the greatest amount of pain relief and quality of life," said Robert
Kell, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the
University of Alberta, Augustana Campus. About 80 per cent of North Americans suffer from
lower back pain. Kell presented some of the findings May 30 at the American College of
Sports Medicine conference in Seattle, Wash.
University of Alberta sets alarm
for incoming space storms
Toronto-A team researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton has broken new ground
in outer space by pinpointing the impact epicentre of an Earthbound space storm as it
crashes into the atmosphere and giving an advance warning that it's on the way. The
studies, using data from the NASA THEMIS mission, reveal that magnetic blast waves can be
used to pinpoint and predict the location at the edge of space where space storms
dissipate their energy. The technique can be considered as the seismology of space, the
epicentre marking the location where the energy equivalent to 50 gigawatts of power, or
the output of 10 of the world's largest power stations, is dumped into the atmosphere.
Physicists Jonathan Rae and Ian Mann are leading the U of A research team that has found
the epicenter of impact. Their team is using ground stations spread across northern Canada
and the five satellites of the THEMIS project to pick up magnetic disturbances as the
storm crashes into the atmosphere. With information from the "space seismology"
the researchers look for the eye of the storm, hundreds of thousands of kilometres above
the Earth. "We see the benevolent side of space storms in form of the northern
lights," said Mann. "When electrically charged particles speed towards Earth and
buffet the atmosphere, the result is often a dancing shimmering light over the polar
region."
Study further expands understanding
of leptin's role in brain neurocircuitry
In investigating the complex neurocircuitry behind weight gain and glucose control,
scientists have known that the hormone leptin plays a key role in the process. But within
the myriad twists and turns of the brain's intricate landscape, the exact pathways that
the hormone travels to exert its influence have remained a mystery. Now, a study led by
investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) sheds further light on the
subject. Reported in tomorrow's issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, the findings
demonstrate that when leptin sensitivity is restored to a tiny area of POMC neurons in the
brain's hypothalamus, a group of mice deficient in the leptin-receptor are cured of severe
diabetes – and also spontaneously double their activity levels – independent of
any change in weight or eating habits."This discovery suggests a new therapeutic
pathway for drugs to treat insulin-resistant diabetes in humans with severe obesity, and
possibly even to stimulate their urge to exercise," explains Christian Bjorbaek, PhD,
an investigator in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at BIDMC and
Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "We know that the majority
of humans with Type 2 diabetes are obese and that weight loss can often ameliorate the
disease. However, in many cases, it's difficult for these individuals to lose weight and
can keep weight off. If, as these findings suggest, there is a system in the brain that
can control blood-glucose directly, it offers hope for the identification of novel
anti-diabetic drug targets." First identified in 1994 as an appetite and
weight-regulation hormone, leptin plays a key role in energy homeostasis through its
effects on the central nervous system. Over the years, investigators have pinpointed a
region of the brain's hypothalamus known as the arcuate nucleus (ARC) as one key area
where leptin exerts its influence, and within the ARC, they have identified two types of
leptin-responsive neurons, the Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons, which stimulate
appetite and the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons, which curb appetite. "Still
other studies had indicated that, by way of the ARC, leptin also had a function in both
blood-sugar control and in activity levels," notes Bjorbaek. "We hypothesized
that, in both cases, the POMC neurons were involved." To test their hypothesis, the
scientists studied a group of leptin-receptor-deficient laboratory mice. "The animals
were severely obese and profoundly diabetic," he explains. "Using Cre-Lox
technology we were able to genetically and selectively re-express leptin receptors only in
the POMC neurons. When leptin receptor activity was restored to just this very small group
of neurons, the mice began eating about 30 percent fewer calories and lost a modest amount
of weight." And, he adds, even more dramatically, the animals' blood sugar levels
returned to normal independent of any change in weight or eating habits, and their
activity levels spontaneously doubled.
Reducing acid in the stomach may
create bacterial colonization in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts
Ever since a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors were introduced to the market in
the late 1980s, the use of these acid-suppressive medications for symptoms of heartburn,
acid reflux and other gastrointestinal symptoms has grown tremendously. This widespread
use has extended to the inpatient hospital setting, where patients are often routinely
given the medications as a way to prevent the development of stress ulcers. But, a large
prospective study, led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)
finds that this routine practice may actually be harmful to patients. In their research,
published in tomorrow’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA), the researchers found that acid-suppressive medications were associated with a 30
percent increased risk of developing hospital-acquired pneumonia.
External beam partial breast
irradiation most cost-effective treatment
External beam partial breast irradiation (EB-PBI) is the most cost-effective method for
treating postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer based on utilities,
recurrence risks and costs when compared to whole breast radiotherapy (WBRT) and
brachytherapy partial breast irradiation (brachy-PBI), according to a study in the June 1
issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official
journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). PBI is a newer form of
radiation therapy for breast cancer where only part of the breast is treated twice a day
for four to five days. Radiation oncologists have been studying different methods to
deliver the radiation to the tumor. EB-PBI uses high-energy external X-rays to deliver
radiation to the breast after a lumpectomy and brachy-PBI delivers radiation through
either implanted needles or a small sphere placed into the post-lumpectomy cavity in the
breast. Whole breast radiation therapy is currently the standard of care, but it is a more
time-consuming treatment, as it involves five to seven weeks of daily treatments using a
linear accelerator to deliver X-rays to the tumor site. While the convenience of receiving
radiation for one week instead of five to seven weeks is obvious, the cost-effectiveness
of the different methods of treatment has never been analyzed. Doctors are also still
examining long-term data to see whether partial breast irradiation is as effective at
curing the cancer as whole breast radiation. In a previous study, researchers at the
Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and
Women's Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology, and the Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Radiation Oncology, all in Boston, and the Brandeis University Heller School
for Social Policy and Management in Waltham, Mass., determined that under most
circumstances, the quality-adjusted life expectancy was higher in patients receiving PBI
than WBRT. In this study, they sought to determine if PBI is better from a cost
standpoint. "According to the American Cancer Society, almost 200,000 women will be
diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. Given this high prevalence, resource-conscious
healthcare systems may want to consider cost-effectiveness when deciding on appropriate
adjuvant therapies for patients with early-stage breast cancer," Rinaa Punglia, M.D.,
M.P.H., senior author of the study and a radiation oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, said.
Aluminum-oxide nanopore beats other
materials for DNA analysis
Fast and affordable genome sequencing has moved a step closer with a new solid-state
nanopore sensor being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois. The nanopore
sensor, made by drilling a tiny hole through a thin film of aluminum oxide, could
ultimately prove capable of performing DNA analysis with a single molecule, offering
tremendous possibilities for personalized medicine and advanced diagnostics.
"Solid-state nanopore sensors have shown superior chemical, thermal and mechanical
stability over their biological counterparts, and can be fabricated using conventional
semiconductor processes," said Rashid Bashir, a Bliss Professor of electrical and
computer engineering and bioengineering, and the director of the university's Micro and
Nanotechnology Laboratory. "The aluminum-oxide nanopore sensors go a step
further," Bashir said, "exhibiting superior mechanical properties, enhanced
noise performance and increased lifetime over their silicon-oxide and silicon-nitride
counterparts." The researchers describe the fabrication and operation of the
aluminum-oxide nanopore sensor in a paper accepted for publication in Advanced Materials,
and posted on the journal's Web site.To make the sensor, the researchers begin by using a
technique called atomic layer deposition to produce a very thin film of aluminum oxide on
a silicon substrate. Next, the central portion of the substrate is etched away, leaving
the film as a suspended membrane. An electron beam is then used to create a very tiny hole
– a nanopore – in the membrane. The process of making the nanopore resulted in
an unexpected bonus, Bashir said. "As the electron beam forms the nanopore, it also
heats the surrounding material, forming nanocrystallites around the nanopore. These
crystals help to improve the mechanical integrity of the nanopore structure and could
potentially improve noise performance as well."
Ethanol Production Could Jeopardize
Soil Productivity
There is growing interest in using crop residues as the feedstock of choice for the
production of cellulosic-based ethanol because of the more favorable energy output
relative to grain-based ethanol. This would also help provide a solution to the debate of
food versus fuel, because less of the grain would be diverted to ethanol production,
leaving more available for food and feed consumption. Crop residues are viewed as a low
cost and readily available source of material since more than 50% of crop production is
residues. However, crop residues should not be considered simply a waste or benign
material. They possess a critical role in sustaining soil organic matter. Consequently,
extensive removal of crop residues for ethanol production—or for other industrial
purposes—may impact the long-term productivity of soils.
Enzyme involved in inflammatory
bowel disease discovered at Penn State College of Medicine
Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, working with biochemists, geneticists and
clinicians at the University of Bern, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom, have
discovered an enzyme that has a key role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The team,
co-led by Judith Bond, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology at Penn State College of Medicine, and Daniel Lottaz, Department of
Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the University of Bern, Switzerland, could
potentially lead to therapies to help the half-a-million Americans affected by ulcerative
colitis and Crohn's disease, collectively referred to as IBD. The enzyme, coded for by the
MEP1A gene, is a zinc-containing metalloprotease called meprin, and is abundant in the
intestine. A protease is an enzyme that breaks down proteins in the body. Researchers at
Penn State College of Medicine studied the role of meprin in IBD using genetically altered
mice lacking the ability to produce the enzyme in collaboration with colleagues in
Switzerland who studied the enzyme in IBD patients. Meprin is abundant in the latter part
of the small intestine, or terminal ileum, and is also present in the large intestine at a
lower level. The European researchers found an alteration in the meprin gene that
correlated with IBD. They then compared the levels of meprin in affected and unaffected
sections of colons from IBD patients and from healthy people. The amount of enzyme in the
IBD patient's inflamed colon was significantly lower than that in normal colon sections.
The researchers concluded that their findings strongly correlate the severity of
inflammation associated with both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis with low meprin
levels. "This discovery is a major advance in understanding the genetic control of
inflammation, and of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in particular," Bond
said. She discovered meprin more than 25 years ago while at the Medical College of
Virginia Commonwealth University. Since then, she has studied the structure and activities
of the meprins and has located the genes for the subunits in both the mouse and human
chromosomes. After coming to Penn State Hershey in 1992, her studies have focused on the
biomedical significance of the meprin proteases. With colleagues from the National
Institutes of Health, she found a linkage between the meprin gene and vulnerability to
diabetic nephropathy in Pima Indians in the southwestern United States. "These types
of transitional research that provide sound basic understanding of a disease process,
coupled with detailed examination and critical interpretation of clinical findings, are
dependent upon sustained collaborations based upon trust and respect," Bond said.
Before this international effort, she teamed up with kidney specialists at Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in New York and with W. Brian Reeves, M.D., at Penn State Hershey to
demonstrate that meprin influences the outcome of acute renal failure in mice.
Semen quality depends upon
antioxidants
Low antioxidant intake is associated with low reproductive capacity in semen. This is the
finding of a new study carried out in two infertility centres in Alicante and Murcia, and
which has been published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility. "Our previous
research study, published in March, showed that men who eat large amounts of meat and full
fat dairy products have lower seminal quality than those who eat more fruit, vegetables
and reduced fat dairy products. In this study, we have found that people who consume more
fruits and vegetables are ingesting more antioxidants, and this is the important
point", Jaime Mendiola, lead author of the article and a researcher at the University
of Murcia, tells SINC. The experts have spent the past four years analysing the link
between dietary habits or workplace exposure to contaminants and the quality of semen
among men attending fertility clinics. The objective was to find out whether a higher or
lower intake of vitamins, which act as antioxidants, could affect semen quality. These
molecules, which are present in foods such as citrus fruits, peppers and spinach, work by
lowering the level of oxidative stress that can affect semen quality, and improve sperm
concentration parameters as well as sperm mobility and morphology. The study was carried
out among 61 men, 30 of whom had reproductive problems, while the remaining 31 acted as
controls. "We saw that, among the couples with fertility problems coming to the
clinic, the men with good semen quality ate more vegetables and fruit (more vitamins,
folic acid and fibre and less proteins and fats) than those men with low seminal
quality", explains Mendiola. "A healthy diet is not only a good way of avoiding
illness, but could also have an impact on improving seminal quality. What we still do not
understand is the difference between taking these vitamins naturally and in the form of
supplements. In the studies we are going to carry out in the United States (where the
consumption of vitamins in tablet form is very common) we will be looking at the role of
supplements", the Spanish scientist continues.
New study shows people with mental
health problems receive inadequate medical care
New research led by the University of Leicester and published this week in the British
Journal of Psychiatry reveals that people with mental health problems are receiving
inferior care for their medical needs. The study by a team of researchers led by Dr Alex
Mitchell from the University of Leicester Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular
Medicine, warns that medical care delivered across most branches of medicine to those with
a mental health or substance abuse diagnosis is of inferior quality to the usual standard
of care. This important systematic review showed widespread inequalities of care in those
with mental health problems. Dr Mitchell said "We wished to investigate whether the
quality of medical care received by people with mental health conditions, including
substance misuse, differs from the care received by people who have no comparable mental
disorder."We found that despite similar or actually more frequent medical contacts,
there are often disparities in the physical healthcare delivered to those with psychiatric
illness with frankly poorer care offered to (or accepted by) those with pre-existing
mental health problems." The research was based on analysing 31 valid studies (see
notes to editors). Dr Mitchell said: "I work in liaison psychiatry and regularly see
people who have received what they report as poor treatment by virtue of their mental
illness. Often there is a temptation for clinicians to attribute any physical symptom to
the psychiatric diagnosis without necessarily assessing the person thoroughly."
"Perhaps most surprising, our study found that inferior quality medical care did not
depend on the presence of current psychiatric symptoms but rather was delivered to anyone
with a previous or current mental health diagnosis."
Experts reach consensus on
diagnosis and treatment of bleeding disorders in women
Because bleeding from the reproductive tract is a naturally occurring event during
menstruation and childbirth, women who exhibit menorrhagia, or excessive bleeding after
their menstrual cycle, may have underlying diseases that are underdiagnosed. In order to
address important issues related to the diagnosis and management of reproductive tract
bleeding in women with bleeding disorders, a consensus conference was convened. Results
are published in the July 2009 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics &
Gynecology. The goals of the consensus conference were to highlight the problems these
women experience and to provide clinical information and recommend strategies to guide
practicing obstetricians and gynecologists. Where the international panel of experts in
obstetrics, gynecology and hematology reached consensus, recommendations were made. Von
Willebrand Disease (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder. VWD results from
a deficiency in, or a dysfunction of, von Willebrand factor (VWF), a protein necessary for
normal platelet adhesion and protection of factor VIII (FVIII) from proteolysis in the
circulation. The prevalence of menorrhagia in women with VWD is 74-92%. Although the
majority of women who present with menorrhagia do not have a bleeding disorder, the
conference participants identified more than a dozen symptoms that suggest further
evaluation, including menorrhagia since puberty, a family history of a bleeding disorder,
and personal history of one, but usually several, of the following symptoms: nosebleeds
(generally bilateral for more than 10 minutes), more than once in the past year; notable
bruising without injury (and with bruises >2 cm in diameter); minor wound bleeding from
trivial cuts lasting for more than 5 minutes; or prolonged or excessive bleeding following
dental extraction.
Study shows new approach to prevent
antibody-mediated damage in kidney transplants
Early results from a Mayo Clinic research study demonstrate the effectiveness of a new
approach to blocking an important part of the immune system that causes severe damage to
some kidney transplants. Historically, these patients have been very difficult to treat
successfully because their immune systems are already primed with antibodies to destroy
the donor organ. These findings were presented today at the American Transplant Congress.
Results show that the drug under study, called eculizumab, prevents antibody-mediated
kidney transplant rejection by inhibiting the immune system's activation of one of the
body's important defense mechanisms -- the complement system. Antibody-mediated rejection
is a major barrier to transplant in patients with antibodies against their living donors
sometimes called "positive crossmatch kidney transplants." Though the results
are preliminary and the study is ongoing, Mayo Clinic's lead author, Mark Stegall, M.D.
said the data suggest that eculizumab therapy may be a turning point for this select group
of high risk kidney transplantation patients. "This innovative approach has the
potential to make this type of high risk transplant possible for more people while
improving outcomes," he says
Researchers identify gene that
regulates tumors in neuroblastoma
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a gene that may play a key
role in regulating tumor progression in neuroblastoma, a form of cancer usually found in
young children. Scientists hope the finding could lead to an effective therapy to inhibit
the expression of this gene. According to Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D., who is the first
incumbent of the Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research with the VCU
Massey Cancer Center, and Seok-Geun Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor in the VCU Department
of Human and Molecular Genetics, co-lead investigators of the study, the team has shown
that astrocyte elevated gene-1, AEG-1, a cancer promoting gene, is frequently activated in
neuroblastoma. In the study published online in the May issue of the journal Oncogene,
Fisher, Lee and their team found that the elevated expression of AEG-1 makes cancer cells
highly aggressive and resistant to factors that may influence cell suicide, and that loss
of AEG-1 reduces the tumor-causing properties of highly aggressive neuroblastoma cells.
Additionally, the expression of AEG-1 was significantly elevated in six of 10
neuroblastoma patient-derived samples compared to normal peripheral nerve tissues.
FDA warnings led to unintended
changes in depression diagnosis
Government warnings about suicidality among children taking antidepressants appear to be
associated with unintended and persistent changes in the diagnosis and treatment of
depression in children and adults, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of
General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "In October 2003 the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Public Health Advisory about the risk of suicidality
for pediatric patients taking antidepressants; a boxed warning, package insert and
medication guide were implemented in February 2005," the authors write as background
information in the article. "The warning was extended to young adults aged 18 to 24
years in May 2007. Immediately following the 2003 advisory, unintended declines in case
finding and non–selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor substitute treatment were
shown for pediatric patients, and spillover effects were seen in adult patients, who were
not targeted by the warnings." To determine whether these unintentional consequences
have persisted, Anne M. Libby, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Colorado
Denver's School of Medicine analyzed patterns in a national integrated managed care claims
database from July 1999 through June 2007. During this time period, 91,748 children (ages
5 to 18), 70,311 young adults (ages 19 to 24) and 630,748 adults (ages 25 to 89) were
diagnosed with depression. Between 1999 and 2004, the rate of diagnosed episodes of
depression increased steadily among each group. "After 2004 the observed national
rate of pediatric case-finding fell significantly, with the post-advisory decline
persisting such that the rate per 1,000 enrollees in 2007 (3.5) approached the 1999 level
(3.2)," the authors write. "Based on the historical trend established in the
five years prior to the advisory, the 2007 rate per 1,000 enrollees would have been 15.6
for young adults and 20.3 for adults; the actual observed rate was 9.6 for young adults
and 12.4 for adults."
TV noise associated with fewer
verbal interactions between infants and parents
For every hour they spend in the presence of an audible television, parents speak fewer
words and infants are less likely to make vocalizations in response, according to a report
in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals. An increasing number of children are exposed to television during
their early years, according to background information in the article. The American
Academy of Pediatrics discourages television or video viewing before the age of 2,
suggesting that parents focus on interactive play to foster child development. Critical
developmental tasks occurring during this time period include language acquisition, which
is promoted by interacting with adults. To test the hypothesis that hearing a television
is associated with decreased parent and child interactions, Dimitri A. Christakis, M.D.,
M.P.H., studied 329 two- to 48-month-old children. The infants wore digital devices on
random days for up to 24 months that recorded everything they heard or said. The
recordings were then analyzed by a program featuring speech-recognition technology, which
categorized the sounds and counted adult words, vocalizations by the children and
conversational turns, or interactions between adults and children. Each additional hour of
television exposure was associated with a decrease of 770 words (7 percent) the child
heard from an adult during the recording session. Hours of television were also associated
with a decrease in the number and length of child vocalizations and in the number of
conversational turns.
Pharmed Fish and pharmaceuticals
Results from a recent pilot study of the uptake of pharmaceuticals and personal care
products (PPCPs) by fish in U.S. rivers have garnered considerable attention since they
were published online 25 March 2009 ahead of print in Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry. The study, led by Baylor University chemistry professor C. Kevin Chambliss and
environmental science professor Bryan Brooks, broke new ground by assessing chemical
contamination of wild fish at a variety of sampling sites, screening a relatively large
and diverse array of PPCPs.
Estrogens in a Bottle?
Much of our exposure to endocrine disruptors occurs through what we eat and drink—in
some cases, chemicals such as plasticizers may have migrated from food or beverage
packaging. The possibility that these chemicals end up in commonly consumed beverages was
the focus of two recent European studies that found evidence of estrogenic activity in
mineral water. Both studies focused on the estrogenic potential of mineral water bottled
in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, the material constituting most
convenience-size beverage bottles sold in the United States today.
PFAAs and Human Sperm
Recent studies suggest that men’s capacity for sperm production may be harmed by
toxic exposures in both fetal and later life. Among the potential chemical culprits are
the perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), highly persistent degradation products of the
polyfluorinated compounds used in products including nonstick cookware and water-resistant
coatings for carpeting, clothing, and other textiles. Findings from a new Danish study
suggest that exposure to PFAAs may help account for the otherwise unexplained poor semen
quality observed in many young men today
A High-Fat Diet May Offset the
Effects of Developmental Neurotoxicity
If a high-fat diet can indeed ameliorate the impact of developmental neurotoxicants, then
this might serve as an underlying, subconscious reinforcement to consume a high-fat diet
as a way of self-remediating underlying neurobehavioral deficits—potentially
expanding the public health implications of the developmental effects of neurotoxicant
exposure.
Prenatal Exposure to Bisphenol A at
Environmentally Relevant Doses Adversely Affects the Murine Female Reproductive Tract
Ovarian cysts were significantly increased in the 1?µg/kg BPA group ; ovarian
cystadenomas were seen in the other three BPA-treated groups but not in corn-oil controls.
We observed increased progressive proliferative lesions of the oviduct after BPA
treatment, similar to those described in response to DES. Further, although not
statistically different from the controls, prominent mesonephric (Wolffian) remnants and
squamous metaplasia of the uterus, as well as vaginal adenosis, were present in
BPA-treated mice, similar to lesions reported following DES treatment. More severe
pathologies observed in some BPA-treated animals included atypical hyperplasia and stromal
polyps of the uterus ; sarcoma of the uterine cervix ; and mammary adenocarcinoma. We did
not observe these lesions in controls.
Oral Exposure to Bisphenol A
Increases Dimethylbenzanthracene-Induced Mammary Cancer in Rats
The data presented here provide the first evidence that maternal exposure to BPA during
lactation increases mammary carcinogenesis in a DMBA-induced model of rodent mammary
cancer. Changes in PR-A, SRC 1–3, erbB3, and Akt activity are consistent with
increased cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis playing a role in mammary cancer
susceptibility. These alterations provide an explanation of enhanced mammary
carcinogenesis after lactational BPA exposure.
Evidence That Humans Metabolize
Benzene via Two Pathways
Because regulatory risk assessments have assumed nonsaturating metabolism of benzene in
persons exposed to air concentrations well above 10 ppm, our findings suggest that the
true leukemia risks could be substantially greater than currently thought at ambient
levels of exposure—about 3-fold higher among nonsmoking females in the general
population.
Emergency Admissions for
Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases and the Chemical Composition of Fine Particle Air
Pollution
Ambient levels of EC and OCM, which are generated primarily from vehicle emissions,
diesel, and wood burning, were associated with the largest risks of emergency
hospitalization across the major chemical constituents of PM2.5.
Dopamine Transporter Genetic
Variants and Pesticides in Parkinson’s Disease
Using two independent pesticide measures, we a) replicated previously reported
gene–environment interactions between DAT genetic variants and occupational pesticide
exposure in men and b) overcame previous limitations of nonspecific pesticide measures and
potential recall bias by employing state records and computer models to estimate
residential pesticide exposure.
Pneumoconiosis from Agricultural
Dust Exposure among Young California Farmworkers
Mineral dust exposure is associated with increased small airway disease and pneumoconiosis
among California farmworkers ; however, the clinical significance and natural history of
these changes remains to be determined.
Effects of Ambient Air Pollution on
Hemostasis and Inflammation
Air pollution increased platelet aggregation as well as coagulation activity but had no
clear effect on systemic inflammation. These prothrombotic effects may partly explain the
relationship between air pollution and the risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease.
Parental Exposure to Pesticides and
Childhood Brain Cancer
Our observation is consistent with a previous literature reporting suggestive associations
between parental exposure to pesticides and risk of astrocytoma in offspring but not PNET.
However, these findings should be viewed in light of limitations in exposure assessment
and effective sample size.
Residential Exposure to
Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Organochlorine Pesticides and Risk of Childhood Leukemia
Our findings suggest that PCBs, which are considered probable human carcinogens and cause
perturbations of the immune system, may represent a previously unrecognized risk factor
for childhood leukemia.
Thyroid Hormone Levels of Pregnant
Inuit Women and Their Infants Exposed to Environmental Contaminants
Overall, there is little evidence that the environmental contaminants analyzed in this
study affect thyroid hormone status in Inuit mothers and their infants. The possibility
that PCP may decrease thyroxine levels in neonates requires further investigation.
Electronic Pill Shows Its Smarts by
Measuring pH Levels in Digestive Tract
An electronic diagnostic tool called the SmartPill is swallowed by patients in order to
take measurements as it travels through the gastrointestinal tract. A new study by
physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center used the device
in patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis (UC), determining that they have
significantly more acidic pH in their colons, compared with the average person — a
finding that may impact treatment strategy.The study was presented today at the Digestive
Disease Week (DDW) meeting in Chicago, Ill. "By using the SmartPill to measure the pH
throughout the digestive tract, we were able to see how the pH levels can vary in patients
with ulcerative colitis. This may help us understand why some drug treatments are more
effective than others," says Dr. Brian Bosworth, lead investigator, assistant
professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and a Crohn's and colitis
specialist at the Jill Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Mesalamines are the mainstay
drug therapy for the induction and maintenance of remission in patients with mild to
moderate UC. Their efficacy is dependent on how well the drug is delivered to the active
site of the disease. Several mesalamines have a delivery system that is dependent upon a
specific pH in order to release. However, since the pH levels in the GI tract can vary,
the researchers say, this could impact the proper release and efficacy of the medication.
TAU researcher notes the importance
of handwashing for pre-schoolers
Swine flu reminded us how important washing our hands can be. Studies show that simple
handwashing can decrease communicable gastrointestinal diseases by 50% and communicable
respiratory diseases by 20%. Now, with schools at special risk for swine flu, a Tel Aviv
University researcher is bringing that message to educators and researchers. Dr. Laura
Rosen worked on a program to educate boys and girls ? and their teachers ? on the good
sense of handwashing. And she’s had astounding success: using a combination of
teacher education and teaching tools such as puppet shows and songs, she has increased the
practice of handwashing before lunch in participating schools from 25% to about 60%. Her
findings were published in the March 2009 issue of Health Education Research.
Sleeping with the enemy
It has been linked to learning impairment, stroke and premature death. Now UNSW research
has found that snoring associated with sleep apnoea may impair brain function more than
previously thought. Sufferers of obstructive sleep apnoea experience similar changes in
brain biochemistry as people who have had a severe stroke or who are dying, the research
shows. A study by UNSW Brain Sciences, published this month in the Journal of Cerebral
Blood Flow and Metabolism, is the first to analyse – in a second-by-second timeframe
– what is happening in the brains of sufferers as they sleep. Previous studies have
focused on recreating oxygen impairment in awake patients. “It used to be thought
that apnoeic snoring had absolutely no acute effects on brain function but this is plainly
not true,” said lead author of the study, New South Global Professor Caroline Rae.
Recent Smoking-Cessation Research
Highlights Importance of Keeping Teens From Smoking
Despite the efforts of college students to quit smoking, recent research conducted by
Joyce M. Wolburg at Marquette University suggests that an extended trial and error period
is necessary. Given that most college students begin smoking in high school, another study
by faculty at HEC Montreal and University of Texas at San Antonio provides insights into
how graphic cigarette warning labels impact intentions of American and Canadian teens.
Both studies appear in the Summer 2009 issue of the Journal of Consumer Affairs. The
Wolburg study reveals that, despite good intentions to quit smoking after college,
multiple strategies (and multiple attempts) are typically necessary to be successful at
smoking cessation. Despite the best efforts to prevent teens from smoking, some ignore the
risks and become smokers. By the time they are college students smokers, many want to quit
but need strategies that get results. Programs that incorporate the real stories and
experiences of those who failed early on but didn’t give up offer hope to a group of
people who may be among the best candidates for quitting. Future research will continue to
refine those strategies. The second study, conducted by Lalla Ilhame Sabbane and
Jean-Charles Chebat, both at HEC Montreal, and Tina M. Lowrey at the University of Texas
at San Antonio, reveals that graphic cigarette warning labels are most effective for
Canadian participants, leading to negative attitudes and lower smoking intentions, but the
graphic label was least effective at lowering smoking intentions for US participants.
People who wear rose-coloured
glasses see more
A University of Toronto study provides the first direct evidence that our mood literally
changes the way our visual system filters our perceptual experience suggesting that seeing
the world through rose-coloured glasses is more biological reality than metaphor.
“Good and bad moods literally change the way our visual cortex operates and how we
see,” says Adam Anderson, a U of T professor of psychology. “Specifically our
study shows that when in a positive mood, our visual cortex takes in more information,
while negative moods result in tunnel vision. The study appears tomorrow in the Journal of
Neuroscience.
Skin Lesion Leads To More Cancer
Types Than Once Believed
Actinic keratoses are sun-damaged rough patches or lesions on the skin — often pink
and scaly — that doctors have long believed can turn into a form of skin cancer known
as squamous cell carcinoma. Now researchers at Brown University, the Veterans
Administration Medical Centers in Providence and Oklahoma City, and others have determined
that actinic keratoses appear responsible for a larger spectrum of skin cancers than
previously thought. Their research is highlighted in the current edition of Cancer.
“We found some interesting things,” said Dr. Martin Weinstock, the paper’s
lead author. Weinstock, chief of dermatology at the VA Medical Center in Providence, is
professor of dermatology and community health at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown
University. This research is supported by the Office of Research and Development R&D
Service, Department of Veterans Affairs.
Cell phone ringtones can pose major
distraction, impair recall
A flurry of recent research has documented that talking on a cell phone poses a dangerous
distraction for drivers and others whose attention should be focused elsewhere. Now, a new
study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology finds that just the ring of a cell phone
may be equally distracting, especially when it comes in a classroom setting or includes a
familiar song as a ringtone."In any setting where people are trying to acquire
knowledge and trying to retain that information in some way, a distraction that may just
seem like a common annoyance to people may have a really disruptive effect on their later
retention of that information," said the study's lead author, Jill Shelton, a
postdoctoral psychology fellow in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St.
Louis. The study includes an experiment in which Shelton poses as a student seated in the
middle of a crowded undergraduate psychology lecture and allows a cell phone in her
handbag to continue ringing loudly for about 30 seconds.
MDCT Angiography Helps Lead to
Successful Treatment of Patients with Severely Blocked Arteries in the Legs
MDCT angiography leads to accurate recommendations for successful treatment of patients
with critical limb ischemia, sometimes allowing the patients to avoid more complicated
surgery, according to a study performed at the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna,
Austria. The study included 28 patients with severely blocked peripheral arteries. MDCT
angiography indicated that nine patients should undergo non-surgical endovascular
treatment such as percutaneous angioplasties or stent placement. Seven patients had
surgery and two had a combination of treatments. “MDCT angiography identified the
correct treatment in 18 patients,” said Rudiger Schernthaner, MD, lead author of the
study. In addition, MDCT angiography indicated that ten patients could or did not need to
undergo any treatment. “The reported incidence of peripheral arterial occlusive
disease (PAOD) is 15.5 cases per 1,000 person-years, and the prevalence is 4.5% among men
older than 55,” he said.
One Step Closer to Understanding
Fish Health in Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers
Exposure to estrogen reduces production of immune-related proteins in fish. This suggests
that certain compounds, known as endocrine disruptors, may make fish more susceptible to
disease. The research may provide new clues for why intersex fish, fish kills and fish
lesions often occur together in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. The tests were
conducted in a lab by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey. The study, led by USGS
genomics researcher Dr. Laura Robertson, revealed that largemouth bass injected with
estrogen produced lowered levels of hepcidin, an important iron-regulating hormone in
mammals that is also found in fish and amphibians. This is the first published study
demonstrating control of hepcidin by estrogen in any animal. Besides being an important
iron-regulating hormone, researchers also suspect that hepcidin may act as an
antimicrobial peptide in mammals, fish and frogs. Antimicrobial peptides are the first
line of defense against disease-causing bacteria and some fungi and viruses in vertebrate
animals. “Our research suggests that estrogen-mimicking compounds may make fish more
susceptible to disease by blocking production of hepcidin and other immune-related
proteins that help protect fish against disease-causing bacteria,” said Robertson.
Diet May Reduce Risk of Prostate
Cancer
A new review published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics assessed whether
certain modifications in diet have a beneficial effect on the prevention of prostate
cancer. Results suggest that a diet low in fat and red meat and high in fruits and
vegetables is beneficial in preventing and treating prostate cancer. Robert W.-L. Ma and
K. Chapman conducted an evidence-based review of dietary recommendations in the prevention
of prostate cancer as well as in the management of patients with prostate cancer. The
researchers found that a diet low in fat, high in vegetables and fruit, and avoiding high
energy intake, excessive meat, and excessive dairy products and calcium intake may be
helpful in preventing prostate cancer, and for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Specifically, consumption of tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, green tea, and vitamins
including Vitamin E and selenium seemed to propose a decreased risk of prostate cancer.
Consumption of highly processed or charcoaled meats, dairy products, and fats seemed to be
correlated with prostate cancer.
Common diabetes drug may
'revolutionize' cancer therapies
Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that a
widely used anti-diabetic drug can boost the immune system and increase the potency of
vaccines and cancer treatments. Their findings will be published June 3 in the journal
Nature. The discovery was made by Dr. Russell Jones, an assistant professor at McGill's
Goodman Cancer Centre and the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Yongwon Choi,
PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and postdoctoral fellow Erika Pearce,
PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania. They discovered that the widely prescribed
diabetes treatment metformin increases the efficiency of the immune system's T-cells,
which in turn makes cancer and virus-fighting vaccines more effective. The specialized
white blood cells of the human immune system known as "T-cells" remember
pathogens they have encountered from previous infections or vaccinations, enabling them to
fight subsequent infections much faster. This "immunological memory" has been
the subject of intense study for many years, but until now the underlying cellular
mechanisms behind it were not well understood. Now, the researchers say, they can use
diabetic therapies to manipulate T-cell response and enhance the immune system's response
to infections and cancer alike. "Many genes involved in diabetes regulation also play
a role in cancer progression," Jones explained. "There is also a significant
body of data suggesting that diabetics are more prone to certain cancers. However, our
study is the first to suggest that by targeting the same metabolic pathways that play a
role in diabetes, you can alter how well your immune system functions."
Report identifies early childhood
conditions that lead to adult health disparities
The origins of many adult diseases can be traced to early negative experiences associated
with social class and other markers of disadvantage. Confronting the causes of adversity
before and shortly after birth may be a promising way to improve adult health and reduce
premature deaths, researchers argue in a paper published today in The Journal of the
American Medical Association. These adversities establish biological "memories"
that weaken physiological systems and make individuals vulnerable to problems that can lie
dormant for years. "Improving the developmental trajectory of a child by helping the
parents and improving the home environment is probably the single most important thing we
can do for the health of that child," says co-author Bruce McEwen, Alfred E. Mirsky
Professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of
Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University. "Adverse childhood experience is
one of the largest contributors to such chronic health problems as diabetes and obesity,
psychiatric disorders, drug abuse – almost every major public health challenge we
face." In the report, McEwen and his co-authors distinguish between levels of stress
experienced by young children. "Positive" and "tolerable" stress, with
the support of adults, help the body and brain learn to cope with brief situations of
adversity, while "toxic" stress, which can disrupt brain architecture and other
organ systems, increases the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment well
into adulthood. Major risk factors for toxic stress include extreme poverty, recurrent
physical and/or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, severe maternal depression, parental
substance abuse, and family violence.
Misreading of histone code linked
to human cancer
The development of blood from stem cell to fully formed blood cell follows a genetically
determined program. When it works properly, blood formation stops when it reaches
maturity. But when it doesn’t, genetic mutations can prevent the stop signal and
cause the developing cells to turn cancerous. In research published in Nature, Rockefeller
University scientists show for the first time that a misreading of the blood cells’
histone code is responsible for acute myeloid leukemia, a rare form of the deadly blood
cancer. “We’ve shown that deregulation of a PHD finger, which normally acts as a
reader of histone modifications, is linked to cancer in humans,” says C. David Allis,
senior author and head of Rockefeller’s Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and
Epigenetics. “We believe that further research will show the involvement of PHD
fingers in other diseases.” Research by Allis and other scientists on specialized
DNA-packaging proteins called histones has revealed that patterns of chemical
modifications on histones alter the balance of on and off states in chromosomes, and cause
genes to be switched on or off. The work has led Allis and colleagues to propose a
“histone code” for gene regulation. One specific chemical change, methylation of
the amino acid lysine 4 (K4) on the tail of histone H3, has been shown to activate genes.
Why dishing does you good
Why does dishing with a girlfriend do wonders for a woman's mood? A University of Michigan
study has identified a likely reason: feeling emotionally close to a friend increases
levels of the hormone progesterone, helping to boost well-being and reduce anxiety and
stress. "This study establishes progesterone as a likely part of the neuroendocrine
basis of social bonding in humans," said U-M researcher Stephanie Brown, lead author
of an article reporting the study findings, published in the current (June 2009) issue of
the peer-reviewed journal Hormones and Behavior. A sex hormone that fluctuates with the
menstrual cycle, progesterone is also present in low levels in post-menopausal women and
in men. Earlier research has shown that higher levels of progesterone increase the desire
to bond with others, but the current study is the first to show that bonding with others
increases levels of progesterone. The study also links these increases to a greater
willingness to help other people, even at our own expense. "It's important to find
the links between biological mechanisms and human social behavior," said Brown, is a
faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and an assistant
professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School. She is also affiliated with the
Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Hospital. "These links may help us understand why people
in close relationships are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who are socially
isolated." Progesterone is much easier to measure than oxytocin, a hormone linked to
trust, pair-bonding and maternal responsiveness in humans and other mammals. Oxytocin can
only be measured through an invasive spinal tap or through expensive and complex brain
imaging methods, such as positron emission tomography scans. Progesterone can be measured
through simple saliva samples and may be related to oxytocin. In the current study, Brown
and colleagues examined the link between interpersonal closeness and salivary progesterone
in 160 female college students.
NEJM study finds radiofrequency
ablation can reverse Barrett's esophagus, reduce cancer risk
Patients who have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) for a prolonged period have an
increased risk of developing Barrett's esophagus, a pre-cancerous condition where the
tissue lining the esophagus becomes damaged by stomach acid and transformed into something
like the inside of the stomach. New research finds that radiofrequency ablation -- an
endoscopic procedure involving targeted thermal energy -- was very successful at restoring
the esophagus and reducing risk for cancer.The study was conducted at 19 centers
nationally, including NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
Results are published in the May 28 New England Journal of Medicine along with an
accompanying editorial, which hails it as a "landmark study in the field."
"The current standard of care for Barrett's esophagus has been watchful waiting or
surveillance -- delaying surgery until the first sign of cancer. This study offers
powerful evidence that treatment using radiofrequency ablation can help prevent esophageal
cancer by completely reversing overall Barrett's esophagus and its more severe tissue
changes, or dysplasias," says study senior author Dr. Charles Lightdale, a
gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and
professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
While it is still rare for Barrett's esophagus to develop into esophageal cancer,
incidence of the cancer has increased fivefold over the last 30 years. Treating esophageal
cancer involves major surgery to remove a section of the organ. Five-year survival is less
than 15 percent.
Scientists uncover mode of action
of enzyme linked with several types of cancer
Scientists at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the
Université de Montréal have discovered a key mechanism used by cells to efficiently
distribute chromosomes to new cells during cell multiplication. Published in the journal
Molecular Cell, the study is the first to demonstrate that this mechanism relies on the
polo kinase, an enzyme implicated in several cancers. Inhibiting this mechanism could be
key to developing effective therapies to treat cancer. Each human cell contains, in its
nucleus, all the coding instructions necessary to direct the cell's activities. A complete
set of those instructions is referred to as a genome. Cancer cells are capable of altering
their genome in order to promote uncontrolled growth. "Cancer cells achieve this by
gaining or losing specific chromosomes, or by inducing structural defects in their
genome," explains Damien D'Amours, Principal Investigator at IRIC and director of the
study, "We discovered that the polo kinase, overexpressed in a broad range of human
tumours, tells the chromosomes exactly when to condense during cell division."
Misregulation of the polo kinase is associated with cancers, thereby suggesting a link
between defects in chromosome condensation and the formation of tumours.
"Pharmaceutical companies and independent researchers are already working on the
development of new cancer drugs to inhibit the activity of the polo kinase," points
out Damien D'Amours, "Understanding this enzyme's mode of action should enable us to
control it. Such knowledge may reveal itself to be key in developing effective therapies
to treat cancer."
Soap-sniffing technology encourages
hand washing to reduce hospital-acquired infections, save money
Call it a Breathalyzer for the hands. Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath,
new technology developed at University of Florida monitors health-care workers' hand
hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands. By reminding
workers to clean their hands to remove disease-causing organisms such as the bacteria
MRSA, the system could help reduce hospital-acquired infections and save millions of
dollars now spent to treat them. The trademarked system, called HyGreen, logs, down to the
second, the frequency of hand cleaning and contact with patients in a database that
clinical supervisors can review immediately. This is the first system that enables
real-time monitoring of hand washing. "This isn't big brother, this is just another
tool," said Richard J. Melker, M.D., Ph.D., a UF College of Medicine anesthesiology
professor who developed the technology along with professors Donn Dennis, M.D., and
Nikolaus Gravenstein, M.D., of the anesthesiology department, and Christopher Batich,
Ph.D., a materials science professor in the College of Engineering. "A hospital
worker never wants to be responsible for someone getting sick or dying from an infection
acquired in the hospital." HyGreen is now being tested in the Neuro Intensive Care
Unit at Shands at UF medical center, and will be presented at the annual meeting of the
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology June 6 to June 9 in
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Here's how it works - The health-care worker squirts sanitizer gel
or soap into his or her hand before passing it under a wall-mounted sensor. A wireless
signal from a badge worn by the worker activates a green light on the hand-washing sensor.
When the worker enters a patient room, a monitor near the bed detects the status of the
badge, and flashes green if the person has clean hands. If the person has not washed, or
too much time has passed between washing and approaching the patient, the badge will give
a gentle "reminder" vibration.
“Antibiotics Are Not Automatic
Anymore”—The French National Campaign To Cut Antibiotic Overuse
In a new study published in this issue of PLoS Medicine, Didier Guillemot and colleagues
analyze the impact of a similar campaign in France, which used to be known for the highest
rates of antibiotic use and pneumococcal resistance in Europe [8],[9]. In 2001, French
policy makers and public health authorities launched a coordinated and multifaceted
strategy for the control of antimicrobial resistance. One of the key interventions was a
yearly campaign targeting the public via mass media, conveying the message that
“Antibiotics Are Not Automatic” (especially for viral respiratory tract
infections).
Male Reproductive Health Disorders
and the Potential Role of Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
CHEM Trust, founded in 2007, raises awareness of the role that exposure to chemicals may
play in ill health. The charity works to improve chemicals legislation and to protect
future generations of humans and wildlife. From a human health perspective, CHEM
Trust’s mission is to ensure that future generations are healthy and can reach their
full potential in terms of behaviour, intelligence and ability to have children. Caution
should be exercised when extrapolating from experimental studies in rodents to humans with
regard to dose/level of exposure and mechanisms of (presumed) effect. While it may be
acceptable to assume similarities initially, direct confirmation then needs to be sought
for in humans in order to identify which chemicals, and mixtures of chemicals, may be
damaging. Detailed mechanistic studies and evaluation of species-specific adsorption,
distribution, metabolism and excretion of ECs are also needed.
Scientists link potassium flow with
schizophrenia
An international team of scientists has identified a variant of a potassium channel that
affects patients with schizophrenia. The results, published in the journal Nature
Medicine, show how the expression of a formerly unknown form of a potassium channel is 2.5
times greater than normal in the brain memory hub of people suffering from this psychotic
disorder, and is connected to a hotspot of genetic variation. Their findings could offer a
new therapeutic target to combat schizophrenia.
Antidepressant ineffective against
autism spectrum disorder children's obsessive behavior
A new multi-center study, conducted at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in
collaboration with five other centers throughout the country, tested the commonly
prescribed antidepressant citalopram and found that it was no more effective than placebo
in altering obsessive features of the condition – the spinning, rocking and
repetitive behavior. Like everything in medicine, the use of antidepressants in children
with autism spectrum disorder took off before there was strong scientific proof about its
effectiveness. In the last decade, its use has grown so that today more than 40 percent of
autistic children swallow a daily dose of an antidepressant. This study, published in the
June 2009 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, should serve to reduce the number of
antidepressant prescriptions written for children with autism and similar conditions on
the autism spectrum. "Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders face an
enormous number of treatment options, not all of which are research based," said
Thomas R. Insel, MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
"Studies like this help us to better understand which treatments are likely to be
beneficial and safe." The study was funded by the NIMH and other NIH institutes. The
Feinstein Institute's Joel D. Bregman, MD, an expert on autism and one of the study
investigators, said that the initial use of antidepressants grew out of a belief that some
of the repetitive behaviors are similar to those seen among people with obsessive
compulsive disorder. "We can't rely on apparent similarities to other conditions and
clinical experiences to guide our treatment strategies." Dr. Bregman said. "This
was a large double-blind clinical trial that showed that this class of medicine is not
effective in reducing these behaviors. These types of studies are essential." The
study followed 149 children between the ages of five and 17. About half were given a
placebo dose and the others received the antidepressant. They were tested repeatedly over
the 12-week study period. A positive response was defined by improvement on a number of
behavioral measurements. "There was no significant difference in the rate of positive
response" on these tests, the scientists concluded. "Results of the trial do not
support the use of citalopram for the treatment of repetitive behavior in children and
adolescents with autism spectrum disorder."
Genes and smoking play role in
rheumatoid arthritis
Recent genetic studies have revealed several new sites of genes that are risk factors for
developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The strongest association with anti-citrullinated
protein antibody (ACPA)-positive RA (ACPAs are autoantibodies detected in RA that are used
as a major diagnostic tool) has been found for the HLA-DRB1 gene, and this site seems to
play a central role in susceptibility to the disease in Caucasian populations. Previous
studies have shown a high increase in the risk of ACPA-positive RA associated with smoking
in those who have certain variations of the HLA-DRB1 gene. There are several types of such
alleles related to a particular amino acid sequence known as shared epitope (SE). ACPAs
occur in about 60 percent of RA patients and are closely linked to the presence of SE
alleles. In fact, SE alleles are the strongest genetic risk factor for ACPA-positive RA.
Of several environmental factors that predispose people toward developing RA, smoking has
been found to be the main risk factor and a strong gene-environment interaction between
smoking and SE alleles for ACPA-positive patients has been shown in previous studies in
Europe. Results in North America have not been as conclusive, however. A new large
population-based study examined the gene-environment interaction between smoking and SE
alleles in RA and found that all SE alleles strongly interact with smoking in conferring
an increased risk of ACPA-positive RA. T
Study examines relationship between
bone density and erosion in arthritis
Up to 50 percent of RA patients show evidence of focal erosions, and RA doubles the risk
of osteoporosis and fractures. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common form of
inflammatory arthritis, affects almost three percent of people over age 65. RA patients
experience pain, functional limitations and two forms of disabling bone disease: focal
erosions and osteoporosis. After five years of disease, up to 50 percent of RA patients
show evidence of focal erosions and RA doubles the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A
new study examined the relationship between these two RA-related processes, in the hopes
of providing insight into the underlying pathophysiology of RA-related bone disease. The
study was published in the June issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Led by Daniel H.
Solomon of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston , the study involved 163 postmenopausal
women with RA, none of whom were taking osteoporosis medications. Participants underwent
bone density scans of the hip and spine, as well as X-rays of the hand to determine if
they had bone erosions. The results showed that hip bone mineral density (BMD) correlated
with bone erosion, but the relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting
for clinical factors such as age, BMI and use of oral glucocorticoids used to treat RA.
The relationship did appear stronger, however, in patients with early RA. "Our
findings suggest that the relationship between focal erosions and generalized osteoporosis
is complicated and modifed by many aspects of RA and other factors," the authors
state. They point out that with longer disease duration, other variables such as the use
of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), disease activity and markers of
inflammation may dilute the relationship between focal erosions and hip BMD. As to why
there was a stronger relationship between hip BMD and erosions than with spine BMD, there
are several possible explanations. It's possible that the inflammation underlying RA
affects the hip more than the spine or that the effects are more apparent at the hip,
which may more closely relate to joint mobility and overall functional status.
Alcohol and smoking are key causes
for bowel cancer
A new global study has found that lifestyle risk factors such as alcohol consumption and
cigarette smoking are important risk factors for bowel cancer. Researchers have shown that
people who consume the largest quantities of alcohol (equivalent to > 7 drinks per
week) have 60% greater risk of developing the cancer, compared with non-drinkers. Smoking,
obesity and diabetes were also associated with a 20% greater risk of developing bowel
cancer - the same risk linked with consuming high intakes of red and processed meat.
Approximately one million new cases of bowel (colorectal) cancer are diagnosed worldwide
each year, and more than half a million people die from this type of cancer. In Australia
alone, it is the most commonly occurring cancer with more than 12,000 new cases diagnosed
each year. According to lead researcher Associate Professor Rachel Huxley at The George
Institute, the most startling finding of this study was, "The strong, and largely,
unknown association between high intakes of alcoholic beverages with risk of colorectal
cancer. Most people probably know that being overweight and having poor dietary habits are
risk factors for the disease, but most are probably unaware that other lifestyle risk
factors such as alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and diabetes are also important
culprits." Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council recommend
individuals shouldn't be drinking more than two standard drinks per day.
Advances being made in the
treatment of hepatitis
Researchers are making great strides in the development of new treatments for hepatitis
and in confirming the effectiveness of current treatments, according to several studies
being presented at Digestive Disease Week® 2009 (DDW®). "Only about half of the
patients infected with hepatitis B and C respond to currently used treatments," said
Nicholas J. Shaheen, MD, MPH, AGAF, University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
"Research is needed to identify which treatments may effectively help these patients
who progress to liver failure, which often leads to liver transplants and significant
health care costs." Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that usually produces
swelling, tenderness and sometimes permanent damage. Hepatitis B can be spread from mother
to child at birth or soon after and through sexual contact, contaminated blood
transfusions and needles. Hepatitis C, the most common form of viral hepatitis, can be
spread through blood transfusions and contaminated needles, but for a substantial number
of patients, the cause is unknown. Both forms of viral hepatitis may lead to cirrhosis, or
scarring, of the liver. DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and
researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal
surgery.
Proton Pump Inhibitors, H2
Antagonists, and Risk of Hip Fracture - A Large Population-Based Study
While drugs such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine-2 receptor antagonists
(H2RAs) are effective in reducing the amount of acid produced by the stomach, researchers
have found — in the first U.S. study of its kind — that these drugs may increase
the risk of hip/femur fractures. In a nested case-control study within the northern
California Kaiser Permanente integrated health-services organization, doctors examined up
to 10 years of exposure to PPIs and H2RAs. They evaluated dose, duration and multiple
potential confounders including smoking, alcohol diagnoses and laboratory values; only
smoking was included in the analyses, as the others did not substantially change the odds
ratios. The doctors also evaluated other medications to determine if expected associations
were present or absent. A total of 33,752 cases and 130,471 controls were identified.
Patients with hip fractures were 30 percent more likely than controls to have taken at
least a two-year supply of PPIs and 18 percent more likely to have taken a two-year supply
of H2RAs. Those taking less than one pill/day had a 12 percent fracture risk increase.
Patients taking the average prescription dose of one pill/day had a 30 percent risk
increase, while those that took more than one pill/day had a 41 percent risk increase. The
greatest relative increase in risk for PPI use greater than two years was among patients
50 to 59 years of age. However, the largest number of fractures was among the 80- to
89-year-old age group, though this group had a lower relative risk associated with PPIs.
Improved DNA stool test could
detect digestive cancers in multiple organs
Mayo Clinic researchers have demonstrated that a noninvasive screening test can detect not
only colorectal cancer but also the common cancers above the colon -- including pancreas,
stomach, biliary and esophageal cancers. This is one of more than 100 Mayo Clinic studies
being presented at Digestive Disease Week 2009 in Chicago, May 30 – June 4.
Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers account for approximately one in four cancer deaths. While
high cure rates can be achieved with early-stage detection for each type, only colorectal
cancer is currently screened at the population level. Most people associate colorectal
cancer screening with invasive colonoscopy, but previous Mayo Clinic research has shown
that stool DNA testing can identify both early-stage colorectal cancer and precancerous
polyps. Researchers are now studying the use of noninvasive stool DNA testing to detect
lesions and cancer throughout the GI tract. "Patients are often worried about
invasive tests like colonoscopies, and yet these tests have been the key to early cancer
detection and prevention," says David Ahlquist, M.D., Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist
and lead researcher on the study. "Our research team continues to look for more
patient-friendly tests with expanded value, and this new study reveals an opportunity for
multi-organ digestive cancer screening with a single noninvasive test." The
researchers studied 70 patients with cancers throughout the digestive tract. Besides colon
cancer, the study looked at throat, esophagus, stomach, pancreatic, bile duct, gallbladder
and small bowel cancers to determine if gene mutations could be detected in stool samples.
Using a stool test approach developed at Mayo Clinic, researchers targeted DNA from cells
that are shed continuously from the surface of these cancers. Also studied were 70 healthy
patients. Stool tests were performed on cancer patients and healthy controls by
technicians unaware of sample source. The stool DNA test was positive in nearly 70 percent
of digestive cancers but remained negative for all healthy controls, thus demonstrating
the approach's feasibility. Stool DNA testing detected cancers at each organ site,
including 65 percent of esophageal cancers, 62 percent of pancreatic cancers, and 75
percent of bile duct and gallbladder cancers. In this series, 100 percent of both stomach
and colorectal cancers were detected. Importantly, stool test results did not differ by
cancer stage; early-stage cancers were just as likely to be detected as late-stage
cancers.
'Shunt' makes mice super fat
burners
By inserting a molecular shunt into the livers of mice, researchers have shown they can
make the animals burn more fat. That so-called glycoxylate shunt consists of two metabolic
enzymes normally found in bacteria and plants, but not in mammals, according to the report
in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. "It's an additional
channel for burning fat to control obesity," said James Liao of the University of
California, Los Angeles. "This creates a shortcut through [the normal pathway],"
added Katrina Dipple, also of UCLA. "It's like putting in a toll road." In the
beginning, the researchers really didn't know what to expect the enzymes taken from E.
coli bacteria would do when placed in mammalian cells. In fact, the glycoxylate shunt
actually prevents the complete oxidation of fat in the organisms in which it is normally
found. "There was no guarantee it would work," Liao said. "But we were
brave enough to try." Remarkably, they found that human liver cells expressing the
enzymes burn more fat. Likewise, mice with the shunt resist becoming obese despite eating
a high-fat diet.
How to get obese mice moving -- and
cure their diabetes
Mice lacking the fat hormone leptin or the ability to respond to it become morbidly obese
and severely diabetic—not to mention downright sluggish. Now, a new study in the June
Cell Metabolism shows that blood sugar control in those animals can be completely restored
by returning leptin sensitivity to a single class of neurons in the brain, which account
for only a small fraction of those that normally carry the hormone receptors. "Just
the receptors in this little group of neurons are sufficient to do the job," said
Christian Bjorbaek of Harvard Medical School. What's more, animals with leptin receptors
only in the so-called pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons spontaneously increase their
physical activity levels despite the fact that they remain profoundly obese. While
understanding exactly how the POMC neurons act on other organs remains a future challenge,
the discovery suggests that drugs designed to tap into the pathway—turning up or down
the dial, so to speak—might have benefit for those with severe diabetes and obesity,
according to the researchers. Such drugs might even encourage obese individuals to get
moving. "This gives us the opportunity to search for drugs that might induce the
desire or will to voluntarily exercise," Bjorbaek said. Leptin was first identified
15 years ago and made famous for its ability to curb appetite and lead to weight loss. It
is known to play a pivotal role in energy balance through its effects on the central
nervous system, specifically by acting on a hypothalamic brain region known as the arcuate
nucleus (ARC). The ARC contains two types of leptin-responsive neurons, the POMC neurons,
which cause a loss of appetite, and the so-called Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons,
which do the opposite. Studies had also revealed a role for leptin in blood sugar control
and activity level, also via effects on the ARC. However, scientists still didn't know
which neurons were responsible, until now.
I-SPY trial offers key insights
into locally advanced breast cancer
Scientists are reporting two findings that could influence the way researchers screen for,
treat and assess prognosis for women with locally advanced breast cancer, an aggressive
form of the disease. One finding offers a critical message regarding treatment strategy,
they say. "Women with locally advanced breast cancer and their clinicians need to be
aware that a growing breast mass should not be ignored even if someone has had a recent
normal mammogram," says Laura Esserman, MD, UCSF professor of surgery and radiology
and director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center. The findings emerged from
I-SPY, a multi-center clinical trial designed to evaluate the impact of chemotherapy
before surgery on patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Assessments in the trial
focus on biological markers as predictors of pathological complete response and survival.
Locally advanced breast cancer tumors develop in younger patients, have a worse prognosis
and are large (min. 3 cm.). The results were reported in the scientific session "Oral
Abstract Session-Breast Cancer -- Local-Regional and Adjuvant Therapy (Esserman) and the
Oral Abstract Session- Cancer Prevention,(Lin 4pm)" at the American Society of
Clinical Oncology annual meeting on Saturday, May 30, 2009. One study revealed that most
locally advanced breast cancers are discovered in the interval between routine mammogram
exams, which are conducted every one or two years. Of the women who were receiving regular
screening mammograms, 83 percent had developed such so-called interval cancers. "This
finding suggests that the growth rate of locally advanced breast cancers precludes early
detection by conventional screening," says the senior author of the study, Laura
Esserman, MD, UCSF professor of surgery and radiology and director of the UCSF Carol Franc
Buck Breast Care Center. "We need to develop a better understanding of the molecular
signatures of these tumors. Understanding their biology will be important for developing
better strategies for prevention and early detection."
Tai chi improves pain in arthritis
sufferers
The results of a new analysis have provided good evidence to suggest that Tai Chi is
beneficial for arthritis. Specifically, it was shown to decrease pain with trends towards
improving overall physical health, level of tension and satisfaction with health status.
Musculoskeletal pain, such as that experienced by people with arthritis, places a severe
burden on the patient and community and is recognized as an international health priority.
Exercise therapy including such as strengthening, stretching and aerobic programs, have
been shown to be effective for arthritic pain. Tai Chi, is a form of exercise that is
regularly practiced in China to improve overall health and well-being. It is usually
preformed in a group but is also practiced individually at one's leisure, which differs
from traditional exercise therapy approaches used in the clinic. Recently, a new study
examined the effectiveness of Tai Chi in decreasing pain and disability and improving
physical function and quality of life in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The
study is published in the June issue of Arthritis Care & Research. Led by Amanda Hall
of The George Institute in Sydney, Australia, researchers conducted a systematic review
and meta-analysis. They analyzed seven eligible randomized controlled trials that used Tai
Chi as the main intervention for patients with musculoskeletal pain. The results
demonstrate that Tai Chi improves pain and disability in patients suffering arthritis.
Scientists in Germany call for a
reassessment of the HPV vaccination and an end to misleading information
As of autumn 2006, adolescent girls and women in Germany can be vaccinated against human
papilloma virus (HPV). Ever since then there have been intense discussions about possible
side effects and the costs of the vaccines, as well as the partly misleading
promotionalinformation which is given out to the public. The question of how effective the
vaccines really are is hardly ever asked. Yet this crucial issue of efficacy – i.e.,
to what degree the vaccine actually lowers the rate of new cervical cancer cases –
has not been sufficiently evaluated, and is the object of misleading information.
Model for new generation of blood
vessels challenged
In-growth and new generation of blood vessels, which must take place if a wound is to heal
or a tumor is to grow, have been thought to occur through a branching and further growth
of a vessel against a chemical gradient of growth factors. Now a research team at Uppsala
University and its University Hospital has shown that mechanical forces are considerably
more important than was previously thought. The findings, published today in the journal
Nature Medicine, open up a new field for developing treatments. New generation of blood
vessels takes place in normal physiological processes, such as when a wound heals,
children grow, or the mucous membrane of the womb is built up to be able to receive a
fertilized egg. It is also a crucial mechanism in tumor diseases, rheumatism, and certain
eye disorders, for example. How new generation and in-growth of blood vessels takes place
has not been fully understood. It has been assumed that the mechanisms are the same as
those that occur in embryonic development, which is probably a great over-simplification.
The formation of the vascular system in the fetus takes place in a well-organized and
reproducible way, which means that we all have blood vessel systems that look very much
the same. On the other hand, new generation of vessels in wound healing and tumor growth,
for example, occurs in a chaotic environment where it is difficult to see that there would
be well-defined gradients of growth factors, and it has not been possible to find evidence
of any. "Unlike these previous models, our findings show that in wound healing,
in-growth of new blood vessels takes place via mechanical forces that pull already
existing blood vessels into the wound when it heals," says Pär Gerwins, who directed
the study and is a physician and interventional radiologist at Uppsala University Hospital
as well as a researcher with the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at
Uppsala University.
Glucose metabolism and recidivism
of severe violent crimes in alcohol intoxications
It is commonly known that alcoholism and alcohol intoxications are connected with severe
violent crimes such as homicides. For instance, in Finland even 80 per cent of these
crimes happen in alcohol intoxications. It has not, however, been clear why only a
minority of alcoholics in intoxications become irritated and impulsively aggressive or
even commit severe violent crimes. A Finnish study now finds that low glycogen level
– which means non-oxidative glucose metabolism – predicts forthcoming violent
offending among antisocial violent offender males in a prospective 8-year follow-up study.
"Usually, the new violent crimes happened already during 1-2 years after the release
from prisons and with the new starting problems of alcoholism", says Professor Matti
Virkkunen, the corresponding author for the study. Results of the study have been
published in the June issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.
Inflammatory bowel disease on the
rise in specific populations
Researchers are making great strides in understanding the development and treatment of
inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the digestive tract that
affects more than a half million Americans, according to several studies being presented
at Digestive Disease Week® 2009 (DDW®). DDW is the largest international gathering of
physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and
gastrointestinal surgery. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term that refers to both
ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Ulcerative colitis is a disease of the colon in
which inflammation of the lining of the large intestine occurs. Crohn's disease causes
inflammation of the lining and wall of the large and/or small intestine. When inflamed,
the lining of the intestinal wall is red and swollen, becomes ulcerated, and bleeds.
"There is still a lot we don't know about the natural history and course of
inflammatory bowel disease," said Sunanda V. Kane, MD, AGAF, Mayo Clinic, Rochester.
"Work in the epidemiology of these conditions suggests an increase in incidence,
making the study of its genesis and treatment that much more important."
Mayo Clinic finds new pathology
tests double sensitivity to detect bile duct and pancreatic cancers
Pancreatic cancer and bile duct cancer are difficult to diagnose and often fatal because
they are discovered in the advanced stages of the disease. Researchers have developed new
tests that double the ability to detect bile duct and pancreatic cancers, according to a
Mayo Clinic study published in the June issue of Gastroenterology. Pancreatobiliary tumors
such as bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) and pancreatic cancer often present as
strictures, or a narrowing of the duct that can either be caused by benign inflammation or
cancer. Physicians insert an endoscope down the throat and into the bile duct and pancreas
region to examine possible tumors; however, the narrowness of the bile duct makes it
difficult to distinguish benign and malignant strictures. In this study, 498 patients with
pancreatobiliary duct narrowing underwent an endoscopic procedure, and cell brushings were
taken. Brushings were then analyzed by routine cytology, digital image analysis and
fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to determine the various tests' effectiveness
and sensitivity in detecting and diagnosing cancer. While traditional cytology analysis
relies on identifying abnormally shaped cells, the FISH test detects malignant cells using
colored probes visible with a fluorescence microscope. Since cancer cells have an abnormal
amount of DNA, by FISH these cells show extra copies of the probes compared to normal
cells. The Mayo research team found that the combination of cytology and FISH raised the
detection rate of bile duct and pancreatic cancer from 20 percent to 43 percent.
"Bile duct and pancreatic cancers are very difficult to diagnose," says Lewis
Roberts, M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and the study's senior author.
Obesity predicts inadequate bowel
prep at colonoscopy
Obesity is an independent predictor of inadequate bowel preparation at colonoscopy, and
the presence of additional risk factors further increases the likelihood of a poorly
cleansed colon, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the
official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Obesity
has become an epidemic in the present era, both in the U.S. and in other developed
nations. Abnormal elevation of body mass index (BMI) is associated with several
gastrointestinal diagnoses, including diverticular disease, gastroesophageal reflux
disease, colon polyps and colon cancer. Since the majority of colon cancers arise from
adenomatous (benign) colon polyps, proper screening becomes crucial while performing
colonoscopy on obese patients. An inadequately cleansed colon can jeopardize the
effectiveness of screening or surveillance colonoscopy, exposing these patients at higher
risk for colorectal tumors to the dangers of missed lesions and higher cost of repeat
colonoscopy. "The implications of our findings are profound. Since over a quarter of
all patients had an inadequate examination, identification of a patient profile with a
high risk for poor colon preparation will be helpful in capturing those who would benefit
from an initial individualized designer preparation regimen," said Brian Borg, MD, of
Washington University in St. Louis, MO and lead author of the study. "Our results
suggest that the obese patient should at least be subject to more precise instructions and
possibly a more rigorous bowel preparation regimen. In addition, as the number of risk
factors for an inadequate bowel preparation increase, the need for early repeat
colonoscopy escalates."
Synthetic chemical helps defend
crops against drought
A group of Canadian, Spanish and US researchers has shed light on what gives plants the
boost they need to protect themselves against harsh weather conditions like drought. The
results of their research, published in Science magazine, will help answer critical
questions that have emerged over the years. Adverse environmental conditions play havoc
with crops and other plants. Not only do crop yields shrink, but farmers' wallets do as
well. Plants are able to use specialised signals, the so-called 'stress hormones', to
sense the hard times that lie ahead and adapt to the adverse conditions in order to
increase their chances for survival. 'Plants have stress hormones that they produce
naturally and that signal adverse conditions and help them adapt,' explained member of the
team Professor Peter McCourt from the University of Toronto in Canada. 'If we can control
these hormones we should be able to protect crops from adverse environmental conditions
which is very important in this day and age of global climate change.' Headed by Professor
Sean Cutler of the University of California, Riverside in the US, the team identified
'abscisic acid' (ABA), the receptor of the key hormone, in stress protection. Plants boost
their ABA levels when stress hits, effectively giving them the breathing room they need to
survive a drought. Past studies have shown that ABA, which is produced naturally by
plants, helps plants cope with drought conditions. And researchers had for years
considered spraying ABA directly onto crops to boost their level of protection. However,
not only is ABA a pricey and light-sensitive molecule, but scientists had not been able to
find a niche for it in the agriculture sector. And until now, the process of how ABA works
was not well understood. The area of ABA receptors, according to the researchers, had
triggered various debates in the field of plant biology. Numerous scientific papers have
been retracted in recent times and many peers have questioned the publication of papers.
Scientists recognise that the receptor, commonly found at the top of a signalling pathway,
acts like a conductor leading a musical orchestra; the receptor relays orders to the team
below who then carry through the specific decisions in the cell.
Hairballed bacteria stick to skin,
triggering infection in preemies
Skin, the human body's largest organ, is an effective barrier against bacteria. But the
extremely delicate skin of a premature baby can be the ultimate breeding ground for
organisms triggering certain infectious diseases. A Swedish team of researchers, writing
in the journal of Pediatric Research, has discovered that a specific kind of
staphylococcus can attach itself to the skin by using its tufted, self-adhesive hairballs
and cause infection. The researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden stated that
staphylococcus establishes itself on the child's skin and mucous membranes directly after
birth. In general, no problems emerge between the bacteria and the host organism. However,
troubles can occur for premature babies or sick adults, they said, adding that the
bacteria can cause sepsis (blood poisoning). The researchers discovered that the
bacteria's hairballs help them stick to the host's cells and that is when the infections
kick in. 'Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are major skin commensals in humans.
Within the first few hours of life colonisation occurs and, by one day of age, 84% of all
healthy neonates have their skin colonised,' the authors wrote in the paper. 'Among the
CoNS, particular attention has been focused on Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis)
since it is the most common species responsible for infection, causing significant
morbidity, mortality and incurring healthcare costs worldwide.' Based on the latest data,
CoNS are considered as being some of the most significant pathogens that cause late-onset
sepsis in infants with very low birth weight (LBW). CoNS are also connected with the
origin and development of erythema toxicum, an immunological skin reaction commonly found
in otherwise healthy newborns. The team discovered that the human cathelicidin peptide
LL37, an antimicrobial substance, is capable of inhibiting bacterial growth and probably
contributes to the stability of bacterial flora and curbs their uncontrolled
proliferation. 'Here we identify, by negative staining transmission electron microscopy,
two different types of pilus-like structures commonly expressed on S. epidermidis isolated
from newborn infants,' they wrote. 'We also show that the cathelicidin antimicrobial
peptide LL37, constitutively expressed in the skin barrier of the newborn, significantly
inhibited growth of S. epidermidis indicating its importance for the ecological stability
of the skin microbiota [the microorganisms that typically inhabit a bodily organ or
part].'
International scientists unlock
melanoma mystery
An international network of scientists and clinicians has pieced together the puzzle of
how the immune system recognises and responds to tumours like melanoma. Their work will
support future research efforts for manipulating components of the immune system for safe
and effective therapeutic strategies. The research findings have been published in the
Journal of Clinical Investigation. Scientists from the Babraham Institute in the UK and
the University of Catanzaro 'Magna Graecia' in Italy headed the research that reveals how
immune cells can be harnessed to target melanoma. The study focused on human metastatic
melanomas and spontaneous mouse melanomas. The results could benefit patients with
metastatic melanoma, which is spread to other parts of the body via the bloodstream or
lymphatic system. This latest study provides a window into the molecular interactions
behind tumour growth control and how Nature Killer (NK) cells control metastatic
progression in melanomas. Blood, lymph glands and tissues contain NK cells; these cells
contribute to defending people against cancer, infection and transplantation. According to
the researchers, NK cells are effective in targeting tumour cells but sparing healthy
cells. Data from mouse models indicate that the cells not only control tumour growth, but
prevent it as well. Receptors found on their cell membrane enable NK cells to detect signs
of infection and recognise abnormal cells. Natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) have the
ability to find molecules associated with tumours. The researchers discovered two
receptors that are vital for NK cell-mediated killing of melanoma cells. The team, led by
Professor Francesco Colucci from the Babraham Institute and University of Catanzaro's
Professor Ennio Carbone, used cell lines from 18 melanoma patients and discovered that the
lines generate proteins that bind to NCRs and the DNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1), a
receptor that activates NK cells.
Slicing chromosomes leads to new
insights into cell division
By using ultrafast laser pulses to slice off pieces of chromosomes and observe how the
chromosomes behave, biomedical engineers at the University of Michigan have gained pivotal
insights into mitosis, the process of cell division. Their findings could help scientists
better understand genetic diseases, aging and cancer. Cells in plants, fungi, and
animals—including those in the human body—divide through mitosis, during which
the DNA-containing chromosomes separate between the resulting daughter cells. Forces in a
structure called the mitotic spindle guide the replicated chromosomes to opposing sides as
one cell eventually becomes two. "Each cell needs the right number of chromosomes.
It’s central to life in general and very important in terms of disease," said
Alan Hunt, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and an
author of a paper describing these findings published in Current Biology.
Intestinal Bacteria Associated With
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Intestinal permeability and an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine are both
associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). These findings are revealed in a
new study in the June issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on
behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article is
also available online at Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). Previous studies
have suggested that bacteria from the intestine might play a role in NAFLD, which is the
hepatic component of the Metabolic Syndrome. NAFLD can worsen to nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis, and some experts have wondered if liver exposure to bacteria from the gut
could promote this progression. Researchers, led by Antonio Grieco of Rome , investigated
gut permeability in patients with NAFLD and compared the results to patients with
untreated celiac disease, who are known to be prone to this condition, and to healthy
volunteers. Their study included 35 patients with biopsy-confirmed NAFLD, 27 with celiac
disease and 24 healthy volunteers. The researchers checked the level of small intestinal
bacterial overgrowth in each participant using glucose breath testing. They assessed
intestinal permeability by looking at urinary excretion of Cr-EDTA. And they examined the
integrity of tight junctions within the gut through duodenal biopsies. “The main
findings of this study are that both intestinal permeability and the prevalence of small
intestinal bacterial overgrowth are increased in patients with NAFLD and correlate with
the severity of steatosis,” the authors report. “Disruption of tight junction
integrity may explain the increased permeability in these patients.” The authors
hypothesize that small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and/or the associated increase in
gut permeability may cause steatosis. This idea is supported by studies on mice, and by
reports that probiotics can improve steatosis that is the result of a high fat diet.
Environmental pollution increases
the risk of liver disease
A new study is the first to show that there is a previously unrecognized role for
environmental pollution in liver disease in the general U.S. adult population. This work
builds upon the groups' previous research demonstrating liver disease in highly-exposed
chemical workers. The study is being presented during Digestive Disease Week® 2009
(DDW®), the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields
of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery. "Our study
found that greater than one in three U.S. adults had liver disease, even after excluding
those with traditional risk factors such as alcoholism and viral hepatitis," said
Matthew Cave, MD, assistant professor, department of medicine, division of
gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Louisville. "Our study shows
that some of these cases may be attributable to environmental pollution, even after
adjusting for obesity, which is another major risk factor for liver disease." Using
the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers from
the University of Louisville study examined chronic low-level exposure to 111 common
pollutants including lead, mercury, PCBs and pesticides and their association with
otherwise unexplained liver disease in adults. The specific pollutants included were
detectable in 60 percent or more of the 4,500 study subjects. Dr. Cave added that this
analysis used only the ALT liver enzyme as a marker of liver injury, and cautioned that
this associative study does not prove causality. However, he added that previous animal
studies do suggest causality for many of these chemicals. Dr. Cave and his co-authors also
plan to examine the additive effects of environmental pollutants on liver disease in
children and adults with risk factors including obesity, viral hepatitis, and alcoholism
in the NHANES population.
Pitt melanoma researchers present
novel findings at ASCO
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) have identified
eight genes that help predict a melanoma patient's response to treatment. The new findings
are being presented at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO), May 29 to June 2, in Orlando, Fla. "Approximately 70,000 people will
be diagnosed with metastatic melanoma this year," said principal investigator Hussein
Tawbi, M.D., M.Sc., assistant professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, and with UPCI's Melanoma Program. "This form of cancer is aggressive and
often resistant to chemotherapy. In fact, only 7 to 10 percent of patients are likely to
respond to the current standard of care. We wanted to see if there was a way to predict
which patients would respond to treatment and which ones would not." Dr. Tawbi and
his colleagues examined the tumor tissues of 21 patients with metastatic melanoma, some of
whom responded to chemotherapy and some who did not. Once the cases were divided, the
researchers used a mathematical tool called Neural Network Analysis to survey over 25,000
genes and the regulators that turn the genes on and off to see if they could identify ones
that could distinguish responders from nonresponders. "Cancer cells contain massive
amounts of information that, if analyzed appropriately, may inform us how to kill
them," said Dr. Tawbi. "They contain thousands of genes, and every gene has a
switch that turns it on or off. Neural Network Analysis, which utilizes pattern
recognition algorithms, helped us identify a signature of eight genes and their switches
that predict a patient's likelihood of responding to treatment for metastatic
melanoma." The results of this study are being validated in a larger sample of 80
patients. Genetic testing could someday allow doctors to identify which patients will
respond to standard chemotherapy and which patients won't, leading to improved treatments
for both groups.
Surgery not necessary for most
late-stage colorectal cancers
A new study shows that a large majority of patients who present with advanced colorectal
cancer that has spread to other organs (stage IV) don't require immediate surgery to
remove the primary tumor in the colon. Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center (MSKCC) presented their data today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology
Annual Meeting. "For this population with metastatic disease that cannot be cured by
surgery, undergoing colon surgery is not always necessary," said Philip Paty, a
surgical oncologist at MSKCC and one of the study's lead authors. "If the colon tumor
is not causing obstruction, perforation, or bleeding we've found these patients are best
treated with chemotherapy. By moving straight to chemotherapy, patients can avoid the risk
of surgical complications and can start treatment for all sites of disease without
delay." For this retrospective study, a multidisciplinary team looked at 233
metastatic colorectal cancer cases treated at MSKCC from 2000 to 2006. Their analysis
showed that 217 of the 233 patients, or 93 percent, did not have complications that
required resection of the primary tumor. Only 16 patients required colon surgery for
symptom management. Previously, in the conventional approach to treating stage IV disease,
patients underwent colon surgery immediately following their diagnosis and would typically
start chemotherapy treatments three to six weeks later. The rationale for immediate colon
resection was to prevent future symptoms and complications from the primary tumor. It was
assumed that the majority of colorectal cancers would have little response to
chemotherapy. But with the development of better chemotherapy treatments in the past
decade, doctors at MSKCC and others within the oncology community started looking at
patients with stage IV disease differently, and began to administer chemotherapy as
initial treatment. Such treatments seemed to be reliable in shrinking both colon tumors
and the metastases; however, there was not published data to support this approach.
"We now know that the routine use of surgery for these patients is based on old
thinking, and we're beyond that. There will always be the need for individual exceptions
based on the clinical situation, but our default position should be not to operate,"
said Dr. Paty.
Omega fatty acid balance can alter
immunity and gene expression
For the past century, changes in the Western diet have altered the consumption of omega-6
fatty acids (w6, found in meat and vegetable oils) compared with omega-3 fatty acids (w3,
found in flax and fish oil). Many studies seem to indicate this shift has brought about an
increased risk of inflammation (associated with autoimmunity and allergy), and now using a
controlled diet study with human volunteers, researchers may have teased out a biological
basis for these reported changes. Anthropological evidence suggests that human ancestors
maintained a 2:1 w6/w3 ratio for much of history, but in Western countries today the ratio
has spiked to as high as 10:1. Since these omega fatty acids can be converted into
inflammatory molecules, this dietary change is believed to also disrupt the proper balance
of pro- and anti- inflammatory agents, resulting in increased systemic inflammation and a
higher incidence of problems including asthma, allergies, diabetes, and arthritis. Floyd
Chilton and colleagues wanted to examine whether theses fatty acids might have other
effects, and developed a dietary intervention strategy in which 27 healthy humans were fed
a controlled diet mimicking the w6/w3 ratios of early humans over 5 weeks. They then
looked at the gene levels of immune signals and cytokines (protein immune messengers),
that impact autoimmunity and allergy in blood cells and found that many key signaling
genes that promote inflammation were markedly reduced compared to a normal diet, including
a signaling gene for a protein called PI3K, a critical early step in autoimmune and
allergic inflammation responses. This study demonstrates, for the first time in humans,
that large changes in gene expression are likely an important mechanism by which these
omega fatty acids exert their potent clinical effects.
Music may improve feeding, reduce
pain in premature babies
As long as there have been babies, adults have crooned lullabies to soothe them. But
research suggests music might also help premature infants learn to suckle better and
reduce their pain. If confirmed, this would be a simple, low-cost way to help these tiny
babies feed on their own faster and move them out of neonatal units sooner, says Dr. Manoj
Kumar, an assistant clinical professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry's
Department of Pediatrics. "If you can get them to feed earlier then you can save
health-care resources," Kumar says. Music also appears to reduce infants' pain during
circumcision and some medical procedures, he says. Music is increasingly being played in
neonatal units on an informal basis because parents and caregivers have a perception that
it's beneficial for the infants. Kumar, a clinical epidemiologist who also has training in
health economics – and several of his colleagues associated with the Alberta Research
Centre for Child Health Evidence (ARCHE) in the Pediatrics Department – decided to
conduct a rigorous, systematic review of medical literature to see what research has
shown. The results of their review are being published online ahead of print on May 28,
2009, in the London-based journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, Fetal and Neonatal
Edition. Of 180 studies the U of A team examined, nine randomly controlled trials
published between 1989 and 2006 met the review criteria and were included. These nine
studies were all so different that the review team says it was not possible to reach any
definitive conclusion. But the team did find much "preliminary evidence that music
may have beneficial effects in terms of physiological parameters, behavioural states and
pain reduction during painful medical procedures.""Music may also improve oral
feeding among premature infants," the U of A authors say.
How many scientists fabricate and
falsify research?
It's a long-standing and crucial question that, as yet, remains unanswered: just how
common is scientific misconduct? In the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, Daniele
Fanelli of the University of Edinburgh reports the first meta-analysis of surveys
questioning scientists about their misbehaviours. The results suggest that altering or
making up data is more frequent than previously estimated and might be particularly high
in medical research. Recent scandals like Hwang Woo-Suk's fake stem-cell lines or Jon
Sudbø's made-up cancer trials have dramatically demonstrated that fraudulent research is
very easy to publish, even in the most prestigious journals. The media and many scientists
tend to explain away these cases as pathological deviations of a few "bad
apples." Common sense and increasing evidence, however, suggest that these could be
just the tip of the iceberg, because fraud and other more subtle forms of misconduct might
be relatively frequent. The actual numbers, however, are a matter of great controversy.
Estimates based on indirect data (for example, official retractions of scientific papers
or random data audits) have produced largely discrepant results. Therefore, many
researchers have asked scientists directly, with surveys conducted in different countries
and disciplines. However, they have used different methods and asked different questions,
so their results also appeared inconclusive. To make these surveys comparable, the
meta-analysis focused on behaviours that actually distort scientific knowledge (excluding
data on plagiarism and other kinds of malpractice) and extracted the frequency of
scientists who recalled having committed a particular behaviour at least once, or who knew
a colleague who did. On average, across the surveys, around 2% of scientists admitted they
had "fabricated" (made up), "falsified" or "altered" data to
"improve the outcome" at least once, and up to 34% admitted to other
questionable research practices including "failing to present data that contradict
one's own previous research" and "dropping observations or data points from
analyses based on a gut feeling that they were inaccurate." In surveys that asked
about the behaviour of colleagues, 14% knew someone who had fabricated, falsified or
altered data, and up to 72% knew someone who had committed other questionable research
practices.
People, who suffer from gum disease and also have a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis,
reduced their arthritic pain, number of swollen joints and the degree of morning stiffness
when they cured their dental problems. Researchers from the Case Western Reserve
University School of Dental Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland reported on
this new intervention for arthritis in the Journal of Periodontology. "It was
exciting to find that if we eliminated the infection and inflammation in the gums, then
patients with a severe kind of active rheumatoid arthritis reported improvement on the
signs and symptoms of that disease," said Nabil Bissada, D.D.S., chair of the
department of periodontics at the dental school. "It gives us a new
intervention," adds Bissada. This is not the first time that gum disease and
rheumatoid arthritis have been linked. According to another researcher in the study, Ali
Askari, M.D., chair of the department of rheumatology at University Hospitals, "From
way back, rheumatologists and other clinicians have been perplexed by the myth that gum
disease may have a big role in causing systematic disease." He added that
historically teeth were pulled or antibiotics given for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,
which actually treated the periodontitis. The patients got better. Askari and Bissada are
part of a team of researchers that studied 40 patients with moderate to severe periodontal
disease and a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis. The study results should prompt
rheumatologists to encourage their patients to be aware of the link between periodontal
disease and rheumatoid arthritis, says Askari. Bissada notes that gum disease tends to be
prevalent in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
UCSF discovers new
glucose-regulating protein linked with diabetes
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and collaborators at Harvard
Medical School have linked a specialized protein in human muscles to the process that
clears glucose out of the bloodstream, shedding light on what goes wrong in type 2
diabetes on a cellular level. Establishing the function of this protein, which
significantly is not present in mice, has broad implications for both the future study and
possible therapies for diabetes, according to an article published in the May 29, 2009
issue of the journal "Science." While a significant amount of research into
diabetes and many other diseases is conducted in mice, the often-unknown differences
between mice and men can create obstacles to direct translation of such research and need
to be taken into account in understanding the progression of human disease, according to
the researchers. "Much has been learned from mouse models about glucose metabolism
that is relevant to human diabetes, but what happens on a cellular level is now found to
be different between the two species," said Frances Brodsky, DPhil, senior author on
the paper and a UCSF professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Therapeutic
Sciences, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and Microbiology and Immunology. "This research
shows one significant species-specific difference that will influence our understanding of
mechanisms of type 2 diabetes." In humans, muscles play a key role in clearing
glucose from the bloodstream, Brodsky explained. In normal function, this is controlled by
insulin, which stimulates the muscle cells to import glucose by means of a system known as
the GLUT4 glucose transporter. Normally, she said, GLUT4 is stored inside both human and
mouse muscles in a special compartment that releases it upon insulin stimulation. Fat
cells also form a GLUT4 compartment and take up glucose in response to insulin. In type 2
diabetes, however, the muscle and fat cells fail to respond appropriately to the insulin
and the GLUT4 compartment is abnormal. This process was thought to be identical across
mammal species.The current research identified a protein in both human muscle and fat
cells, called CHC22, which appears to control the formation of the GLUT4 storage
compartments.
Testimony to CFSAC on the
hypothesis that dysregulated H2S metabolism plays central role in ME/CFS
Marian Dix Lemle is a remarkable lay
researcher inspired by the desire to follow a lead she thinks might explain and generate a
cure for her daughter’s ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ (ME/CFS). She has worked
tirelessly for more than two years to interest the world’s top experts in her
hypothesis that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) plays a central role in ME/CFS. And her efforts
took on new meaning May 28, 2009, the day Belgian researcher Dr. Kenny De Meirleir called
a press conference in London to announce a theory of ME/CFS that centers around testing
for dysregulated H2S metabolism.
