News - Week 50 - 2008
Polyphenols in Dried Plums Reduce
Risk of Osteoporosis
The naturally occurring polyphenols in dried plums (prunes) may encourage bone formation
and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, according to a study conducted by researchers from
Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, and published in
the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. Polyphenols are naturally occurring plant
compounds known to have antioxidant and other health benefits.
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Is Resveratrol the Fountain of
Youth?
There are a lot of great anti-aging and metabolism boosting nutrients: DHA, pantethine,
acetyl-l-carnitine, carnosine, R-alpha lipoic acid, grape seed extracts – the list
goes on and on. In fact, most nutrients help cells function better and thus live longer.
So, why is resveratrol vying for the position as King of the anti-aging nutrients –
with a potent fat-burning twist thrown in for good measure?
View full article here
Thinning Hair in Women - Warning
Sign of Underlying Health Issues
Hair is probably a woman's most important feature. Signs of thinning hair can take the
sail out of almost any woman's day. It may seem vain to pay so much attention to hair, but
signs of thinning hair are really the first signals of such conditions as hormonal
imbalance, vitamin deficiency, excessive stress or poor nutrition, all symptoms of
declining health status. Paying attention to hair can reveal developing conditions before
they get out of control. When you have restored your hair to a full head of vibrant
healthy strands, chances are the rest of your body will also exhibit vibrant health.
View full article here
Can you hear me now? How the inner
ear's sensors are made
A UCLA study shows for the first time how microscopic crystals form sound and gravity
sensors inside the inner ear. Located at the ends of cilia — tiny cellular hairs in
the ear that move and transmit signals — these crystals play an important role in
detecting sound, maintaining balance and regulating movement. Dislodged ear crystals are
to blame for the most common form of vertigo. Known as benign paroxysmal positional
vertigo, the disorder plagues up to 10 percent of people older than 60 and causes 20
percent of patients' dizziness complaints. The researchers' findings, published Nov. 30 in
the advance online edition of the journal Nature, suggest a potential gene target for the
treatment of people suffering from common hearing and balance problems related to cilia
disorders. "People have known for a long time about the importance of cilia for
propelling sperm up the uterus and moving mucus out of the lungs," said Kent Hill,
associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the David Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA College of Letters and Science. "Our study
illustrates that cilia perform many additional jobs that are essential to how our bodies
develop and work." Hill's team employed high-speed, high-definition video imaging to
watch cilia moving in real-time inside the developing ears of embryonic zebrafish. These
small, bony fish undergo stages of development similar to humans and other vertebrates,
making them useful models for research.
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full article here
Newborns exposed to maternal
smoking more irritable, difficult to soothe
Previous studies have shown that babies exposed to tobacco in utero are more likely to
have a low birth weight and are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome. Now
new research by The Miriam Hospital reveals that these babies are also less likely to
self-soothe and are more aroused and excitable than newborns whose mothers did not smoke
during pregnancy. Researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and
Preventive Medicine say early identification and targeted intervention efforts aimed at
both infants and parents may help prevent possible disruption in early maternal-infant
bonding and, ultimately, long-term adverse outcomes. The study is published online by the
Journal of Pediatrics. "A baby who is harder to soothe and more irritable could be
more difficult to take care of and could potentially affect the developing mother-child
relationship, especially for mothers who are already stressed and have fewer
resources," says lead author Laura Stroud, PhD, a psychologist with The Miriam
Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine. "We need better treatment
programs to help women not smoke during pregnancy, to keep them from starting smoking
after the baby is born, and to help them take care of an excitable or colicky baby."
Between 11 and 30 percent of women continue to smoke during pregnancy, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to the physical side effects,
tobacco exposure in utero has also been linked to long-term adverse neurobehavioral
outcomes in children, including conduct disorder and hyperactivity. However, researchers
say relatively less attention has focused on the effects of maternal smoking on newborn
neurobehavior. In the study, Stroud and colleagues from Women & Infants Hospital in
Providence, RI, and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University focused on
newborns between 10 and 27 days old. The researchers decided on this infant age range
because it is well past the half-life of nicotine, meaning the acute effects of nicotine
withdrawal were unlikely to be a factor in the study. All 56 babies – 28
smoking-exposed and 28 unexposed – were healthy and full-term. Maternal social class,
age and alcohol use were similar in each group.
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article here
Eating eggs when pregnant affects
breast cancer in offspring
A stunning discovery based on epigenetics (the inheritance of propensities acquired in the
womb) reveals that consuming choline—a nutrient found in eggs and other
foods—during pregnancy may significantly affect breast cancer outcomes for a mother's
offspring. This finding by a team of biologists at Boston University is the first to link
choline consumption during pregnancy to breast cancer. It also is the first to identify
possible choline-related genetic changes that affect breast cancer survival rates.
"We've known for a long time that some agents taken by pregnant women, such as
diethylstibesterol, have adverse consequences for their daughters," said Gerald
Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "But there's an upside. The
emerging science of epigenetics has yielded a breakthrough. For the first time, we've
learned that we might be able to prevent breast cancer as early as a mother's
pregnancy." The researchers made the discovery in rats by studying females whose
mothers were fed varying amounts of choline during pregnancy. Different groups of pregnant
rats received diets containing standard amounts of choline, no choline at all, or extra
choline. Then the researchers treated the female offspring with a chemical that causes
cancer of the mammary gland (breast cancer). Although animals in all groups developed
mammary cancer, the daughters of mothers that had received extra choline during pregnancy
had slow growing tumors while daughters of mothers that had no choline during pregnancy
had fast growing tumors.
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full article here
Multidetector CT Cystography
Accurately Detects Urine Leaks after Prostatectomy
Multidetector CT (MDCT) cystography (diagnostic procedure used to examine the bladder) can
be used to detect vesicourethral leaks (a common problem) after prostatectomy according to
a study that was performed at the Seoul National University College of Medicine in the
Republic of Korea. Forty six patients who underwent prostatectomies were included in the
study. 51 sets of MDCT and conventional cystographic images were evaluated. Results showed
that the urinary leak detection rate using MDCT cystography was 80.4%; that compares to
the 54.3% detection rate using conventional cystography,” said Dr. Sung IL Hwang, MD,
lead author of the study.
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IDO2 an active enzyme to target in
pancreatic cancer
An enzyme that is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer cells may hold the key to
successfully treating the disease with targeted immunotherapy, researchers from Thomas
Jefferson University reported at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Southern Surgical
Association. Previous data show that a protein, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), is
overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, according to Jonathan R. Brody, Ph.D.,
an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas
Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and co-director of the Jefferson Center for
Pancreas, Biliary and Related Cancers. The center is led by Charles J. Yeo, M.D., Samuel
D. Gross Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, who was also involved with the
study.According to Dr. Brody, IDO is an enzyme that represses the immune system, thus
protecting the cancer cells and helping them evade immune detection. The Jefferson
researchers and their collaborators from the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
(LIMR) in Wynnewood, Pa., previously reported that the IDO inhibitor D-1-methyl-tryptophan
(1-MT), preferentially targets a related protein, IDO2.
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full article here
Place of birth contributes to
asthma disparity
Tufts researchers and colleagues report that place of birth plays a role in the occurrence
of asthma in a United States black population. The researchers found that within one
inner-city population, blacks born in the United States were more likely to have asthma
than blacks who were born outside of the United States. "Within Asian and Hispanic
populations, there is research that indicates that asthma varies between those who are
born in the U.S. and those who are foreign-born. There is currently no research that we
found that describes asthma prevalence among black/African-American subpopulations in the
U.S.," says first author Doug Brugge, PhD, associate professor in the Department of
Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. In
partnership with Tufts University School of Medicine, the Boston Urban Asthma Coalition
(BUAC) implemented the project in Dorchester in response to parents who wanted to
determine how asthma affects their community. Adults 18 years and older were recruited
from various locations in Dorchester to participate in the oral survey. If the recruited
adults had children, they answered asthma-related questions about their children. Parent
leaders from BUAC and students from Harvard Medical School conducted the survey, which
included questions from asthma screening questionnaires used and validated by other
organizations and research studies. Questions included place of birth as well as questions
related to occurrence of asthma symptoms (e.g., chest tightness, wheezing, family history
of asthma, allergies, etc.) and environmental factors that would lead to asthma (e.g.,
maternal smoking during pregnancy, mold growth in the home, vehicle traffic near home,
etc.)
View full article here
High levels of prenatal smoking
exposure affect sleep patterns in preterm neonates
A study in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Sleep is the first to show that high levels of
prenatal smoking exposure strongly modify sleep patterns in preterm neonates, which places
infants at a higher risk for developmental difficulties that could persist throughout
early and middle childhood.
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Study Shows How Shift Workers Can
Improve Job Performance and Implement a Realistic Sleep Schedule
A study in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that the use of light exposure
therapy, dark sunglasses and a strict sleep schedule can help night-shift workers create a
“compromise circadian phase position,” which may result in increased performance
and alertness during night shifts while still allowing adequate nighttime sleep on days
off. Results show that performance was better for the experimental subjects than the
controls. When the phase delays of the experimental group had likely reached the
compromise circadian position, performance for this group was close to the level during
day shifts, demonstrating fast reaction times with low variability and few or no lapses.
In contrast, the control group continued to show longer and more variable reaction times
on all night shifts. “The major finding of this study was that complete physiological
adaptation to a night shift and day sleep schedule does not appear necessary in order to
improve night shift alertness and lengthen daytime sleep,” said lead author Mark
Smith, post-doctoral fellow in the Biological Rhythms Research Laboratory at Rush
University Medical Center in Chicago. “Instead, we found that partial physiological
adaptation using scheduled exposure to light and darkness is sufficient to bring night
shift performance back to daytime levels.” This study, which was number three in a
series of five conducted between May and October 2007, was to establish a compromise phase
position for permanent night shift work, in which the circadian clock is delayed to only
partially align with the day sleep period. This partial entrainment could reduce the
performance and alertness decrements during night shifts and allow a sleep schedule that
is compatible with both night shifts and days off.
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Persistent pollutant may promote
obesity
A persistent pollutant, tributyltin, has effects on gene activity in a wide range of
animal species at concentrations of parts per billion. Tributyl tin and its chemical
relatives bind to nuclear receptors that in turn activate genes influencing the formation
of fat storage cells. This and other evidence suggests a possible role for tributyl tin in
the obesity epidemic.
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full article here
Study unmasks how ovarian tumors
evade immune system
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have determined how the characteristic shedding of fatty
substances, or lipids, by ovarian tumors allows the cancer to evade the body's immune
system, leaving the disease to spread unchecked. Ovarian cancer is considered to be one of
the most aggressive malignancies, killing more than 70 percent of diagnosed women within
five years, including an estimated 15,000 this year. In a two-year series of lab
experiments, a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
and its Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center showed that fluid secretions from
tumors, called ascites, which contain lipids and collect in the space surrounding
cancerous ovaries, can totally suppress the action of natural killer T cells in the immune
system. Known as NKTs for short, these special T cells must be activated to do their job
of jump-starting the immune response and signaling other kinds of white blood cells to rid
the body of diseases or leave healthy tissue alone. As part of the study, researchers
collected lipid-filled ascites from 25 women with ovarian cancer and then exposed the
lipid samples to an immune system test to see if they blocked activation of NKT cells.
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full article here
Antibiotics - Single largest class
of drugs causing liver injury
Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause idiosyncratic drug-induced
liver injury (DILI), reports a new study in Gastroenterology, an official journal of the
American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. DILI is the most common cause of
death from acute liver failure and accounts for approximately 13 percent of cases of acute
liver failure in the U.S. It is caused by a wide variety of prescription and
nonprescription medications, nutritional supplements and herbals. "DILI is a serious
health problem that impacts patients, physicians, government regulators and the
pharmaceutical industry," said Naga P. Chalasani, MD, of the Indiana University
School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Further efforts are needed in
defining its pathogenesis and developing means for the early detection, accurate
diagnosis, prevention and treatment of DILI." In this prospective, ongoing,
multi-center observational study — the largest of its kind — patients with
suspected DILI were enrolled based upon predefined criteria and followed for at least six
months. Those with acetaminophen liver injury were excluded. Researchers found that DILI
was caused by a single prescription medication in 73 percent of the cases, by dietary
supplements in 9 percent and by multiple agents in 18 percent. More than 100 different
agents were associated with DILI; antimicrobials (45.5 percent) and central nervous system
agents (15 percent) were the most common. Of the dietary supplements causing DILI,
compounds that claim to promote weight loss and muscle building accounted for nearly 60
percent of the cases. The study found that at least 20 percent of patients with DILI
ingest more than one potentially hepatotoxic agent. DILI remains a diagnosis of exclusion
and thus detailed testing should be performed to exclude competing causes of liver
disease; importantly, acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection should be carefully excluded
in patients with suspected DILI by HCV RNA testing. Researchers found no relationship
between gender and severity of DILI, but individuals with diabetes experienced more severe
DILI.
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full article here
Lower childhood IQ associated with
higher risk of adult mental disorders
Ìn a new, long-term study covering more than three decades, researchers at Harvard School
of Public Health found that children with lower IQs showed an increased risk of developing
psychiatric disorders as adults, including schizophrenia, depression and generalized
anxiety disorder.
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full article here
Exercise helps prevent age-related
brain changes in older adults
Older adults who exercise regularly show increased cerebral blood flow and a greater
number of small blood vessels in the brain, according to findings presented today at the
annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The study, conducted
at the University of North Carolina (UNC) – Chapel Hill, is the first to compare
brain scans of older adults who exercise to brain scans of those who do not. "Our
results show that exercise may reduce age-related changes in brain vasculature and blood
flow," said presenter Feraz Rahman, M.S., currently a medical student at Jefferson
Medical College in Philadelphia. "Other studies have shown that exercise prevents
cognitive decline in the elderly. The blood vessel and flow differences may be one
reason." The researchers recruited 12 healthy adults, age 60 to 76. Six of the adults
had participated in aerobic exercise for three or more hours per week over the last 10
years, and six exercised less than one hour per week. All of the volunteers underwent MRI
to determine cerebral blood flow and MR angiography to depict blood vessels in the brain.
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article here
Brain waves show sound processing
abnormalities in autistic children
Abnormalities in auditory and language processing may be evaluated in children with autism
spectrum disorder by using magnetoencephalography (MEG), according to a study presented
today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"Using MEG, we can record the tiny magnetic fields associated with electrical brain
activity," said Timothy Roberts, Ph.D., vice chair of research in the Department of
Radiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Recorded brain waves change with
every sensation, thought and activity. It's like watching a movie of the brain in real
time." Typically used for epilepsy evaluation, MEG can also be used to identify
timing abnormalities in the brains of patients with autism. "We found that signatures
of autism are revealed in the timing of brain activity," Dr. Roberts said. "We
see a fraction of a second delay in autistic patients." Autism is a complex
developmental disability that affects approximately one in every 150 American children,
mostly boys, according to the Autism Society of America. Autism inhibits the brain
functions that govern the development of social and communication skills. For a MEG exam,
a helmet that houses magnetic detectors and looks similar to an old-fashioned hair dryer
is lowered over the patient's head while the patient remains in a seated position. The
helmet analyzes electrical currents from the brain.
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article here
MRI machines may damage cochlear
implants
Patients with cochlear implants may want to steer clear of certain magnetic imaging
devices, such as 3T MRI machines, because the machines can demagnetize the patient's
implant, according to new research published in the December 2008 issue of Otolaryngology
-- Head and Neck Surgery.
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full article here
Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctors
Distinguish Sinusitis from the Common Cold
As the temperature drops and the holidays approach, people are busy bundling up and buying
gifts. During such a busy season, many will come down with what they think is a common
cold, but the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) wants
patients to recognize the difference between cold and flu symptoms and a more serious
infection like sinusitis. Approximately 37 million people are afflicted with sinusitis
each year, making it one of the most common health conditions in America. Symptoms of the
common cold can mimic the beginning stages of a more serious sinus infection, leading to
delayed treatment and symptom relief. Sinusitis is an infection of the sinus cavities
caused by viruses or bacteria. It usually is preceded by a cold, allergy attack, or
irritation by environmental pollutants. Unlike a cold, which is always viral, bacterial
sinusitis requires a physician’s diagnosis and may require treatment with an
antibiotic to cure the infection and prevent future complications.
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full article here
Prostate cancer spurs new nerves
Prostate cancer – and perhaps other cancers – promotes the growth of new nerves
and the branching axons that carry their messages, a finding associated with more
aggressive tumors, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in the first report of
the phenomenon that appears today in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. Previous
research showed that prostate cancer follows the growth of nerves, but this is the first
time that scientists have demonstrated that the tumors actually promote nerve growth.
"This is the first report of this phenomenon," said Dr. Gustavo Ayala, professor
of pathology and urology at BCM and first author of the article. "It represents an
important new target in prostate cancer treatment, as prostate cancers are more aggressive
when neurogenesis is present." Ayala noted that this finding is comparable to the
discovery of angiogenesis or the growth of new blood vessels. Both are part of the wound
repair process.
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Brain's Magnetic Fields Reveal
Language Delays in Autism
Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those
children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children. Identifying
and classifying these brain response patterns may allow researchers to more accurately
diagnose autism and possibly aid in developing more effective treatments for the
developmental disorder. Timing appears to be crucial. "Children with autism respond a
fraction of a second more slowly than healthy children to vowel sounds and tones,"
said study leader Timothy Roberts, Ph.D., vice chair of radiology research and holder of
the Oberkircher Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Radiology at The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia. Roberts used a technology called magnetoencephalography (MEG), which detects
magnetic fields in the brain, just as electroencephalography (EEG) detects electrical
fields.
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full article here
New treatment hope for people with
recurring depression
Research shows for the first time that a group-based psychological treatment, Mindfulness
Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), could be a viable alternative to prescription drugs for
people suffering from long-term depression. In a study, published today (1 December 2008)
in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, MBCT proved as effective as
maintenance anti-depressants in preventing a relapse and more effective in enhancing
peoples' quality of life. The study also showed MBCT to be as cost-effective as
prescription drugs in helping people with a history of depression stay well in the
longer-term. Funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the study was led by Professor
Willem Kuyken at the Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter, in collaboration with
colleagues at the Centre for Economics of Mental Health (CEMH) at the Institute of
Psychiatry, King's College London, Peninsula Medical School, Devon Primary Care Trust and
the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. The randomised control
trial involved 123 people from urban and rural locations who had suffered repeat
depressions and were referred to the trial by their GPs. The participants were split
randomly into two groups. Half continued their on-going anti-depressant drug treatment and
the rest participated in an MBCT course and were given the option of coming off
anti-depressants. Over the 15 months after the trial, 47% of the group following the MBCT
course experienced a relapse compared with 60% of those continuing their normal treatment,
including anti-depressant drugs. In addition, the group on the MBCT programme reported a
higher quality of life, in terms of their overall enjoyment of daily living and physical
well-being.
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full article here
Scientists developing food allergy
treatment
A European team of scientists are embarking on new research to develop food allergy
treatments. Classical treatment with allergen-specific immunotherapy, where a patient
received monthly injections with an allergen extract for three to five years, is effective
but dangerous due to anaphylactic side effects. In the FAST project, scientists will use
modified variants of allergic proteins that are hypoallergenic and therefore safer. The
proteins will be purified to increase effectiveness and dosage control easier.
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full article here
Wistar scientists find key to
keeping killer T cells in prime shape for fighting infection, cancer
Researchers at the Wistar Institute have found multiple receptors on the outside of the
body's killer immune system cells which they believe can be selectively targeted to keep
the cells in superb infection and disease-fighting condition. In a study published online
Nov. 30 in Nature Immunology, the researchers describe their discovery of seven different
receptors on T cells that can tamp down immune responses during a prolonged battle with an
infectious pathogen or against developing cancer.
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article here
Protection from the own immune
system
Some 80,000 people in Germany suffer from multiple sclerosis -- their immune system
attacks and destroys healthy nerve tissue. Researchers at the Heidelberg University
Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have succeeded in vaccinating
mice with specially treated, autologous immune cells and preventing them from developing
encephalitis, which is similar to multiple sclerosis in humans.
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full article here
Surprise discovery made in cancer
research
Many of the cancer drugs currently undergoing clinical trials target IAPs, since if the
levels of IAPs are reduced, tumor cells will be destroyed by the body's own
self-protecting mechanism or by the chemotherapeutic drugs. However, as a research group
from the Goethe University in Frankfurt, working with scientists at the Universities of
Wuerzburg and Philadelphia have recently discovered, IAPs also have another life: they
control cell migration.
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full article here
For the first time bone mineral
content can be shown in different anatomical areas of the body
Scientists from the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) have examined the patterns of
total bone mineral content of the Spanish population in different areas of the body. The
analysis is the first one of its kind undertaken in Spain that studies subjects from birth
until 80 years of age and confirms the differences in mineral content according to gender
and changes due to age. A team of Spanish researchers set out to establish the reference
values for skeletal bone status in the course of a human being’s lifetime. This is a
“very important piece of work given the changes in bone metabolism of the Spanish
population”, Soledad Aguado, the main author of the work and researcher at the UAH
explains to SINC. The research, published in the latest number of the Skeletal Radiology
Journal, is the first that has been undertaken in Spain in subjects whose ages ranged from
0 to 80 years of age. The study was performed in 1,120 subjects from the Community of
Madrid, all of whom had a sedentary lifestyle. The sample was divided into 16 groups at
5-year age intervals. Each group had a bone densitometry scan using the technique known as
“Dual X-Ray phototonic absorptiometry [DXA]. The aim was to quantify bone mineral
content in the whole body and in different and separate areas of the body. The results
show that there are big differences in gender in the mean values of bone mineral content
for the head and trunk of the body (between 16 and 25 years) and legs and arms (between 16
and 70 years). In all cases, women have less bone mineral content.
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full article here
Scientists home in on the origins
of childhood kidney cancer
Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have made significant progress in
pinpointing two new risk factors associated with the most common childhood kidney cancer,
known as Wilms tumour. The research published in Clinical Cancer Research today found that
specific genetic changes in certain cells may cause childhood kidney cancer. Lead
scientist, Dr Chris Jones at The Institute of Cancer Research says:“This discovery is
a significant step forward and our findings will help locate those who are most at risk
and hopefully lead to earlier diagnosis and better monitoring for patients.”The work
is the first to study the entire genome (collection of genes that a person has) within
these clusters of cells by analysing ‘DNA copy number changes’. “Around one
per cent of children are born with clusters of embryonic cells in their kidneys left over
from growing in the womb. One in a hundred of these children may then go on to develop a
Wilms tumour. With the information from a study published today, doctors will be able to
focus on which of these clusters pose the biggest threat of developing into cancer,”
Dr Jones said.Around 70 children are diagnosed with Wilms tumour in the UK each year, the
most common childhood renal cancer, affecting approximately one in every 10,000 children.
Wilms Tumour is very treatable and most children can be cured. However, if both kidneys
are affected the cure rate is lower and it is more difficult to preserve kidney function.
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full article here
Diet may regulate obesity health
risks, but genes decide, says new research
The risk of obese people developing the metabolic syndrome that leads to diabetes,
hypertension, and heart disease, can not be solved by a one-size-fits-all diet programme,
according to new scientific findings. The results of Lipgene, a five year EU research
programme, show that personalised nutrition diets based on peoples genetic make-up will be
the way of the future when tackling obesity and its associated health risks. Currently,
obesity costs the EU an estimated €32.8 billion each year. And, at current rates, it
is estimated that 50% of Europeans will be obese by 2050. Obesity results when excess
calories are consumed and insufficient energy is spent (physical inactivity). Obesity is a
major health hazard worldwide, it is directly linked to several common diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and some cancers. “We analysed the findings
from 500 volunteers across Europe who took part in a dietary programme to measure the
effects of different diets on the development of the metabolic syndrome associated with
obesity,” says Professor Helen Roche from the Institute of Food and Health at
University College Dublin, one of the principal scientists on the Lipgene programme.
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full article here
First trial in patients with a
potential treatment of the incurable ALS muscle disease - Project of VIB, UZ Leuven and
NeuroNova
Permission has been granted to start the first safety and tolerability trial on patients
for a remedy for ALS. ALS is an incurable, paralyzing neurodegenerative disorder that
strikes 5 persons in every 100,000. The disease commonly affects healthy people in the
most active period of their lives - without warning. Researchers from VIB at the
K.U.Leuven have previously shown the possibilities for the use of VEGF in the treatment of
ALS through work in animal models. The Swedish Biopharmaceutical company NeuroNova has
already built upon this research. Together with UZ Leuven they’ll start the first
evaluation of safety and tolerability of the drug in patients by the end of this year.
This is an important step in the development of a new treatment. It will take several
years before the protein can be made available as a medicine.
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full article here
Acupuncture just as effective
without needle puncture
Acupuncture works - but it works equally well with or without needle penetration. This
conclusion can be drawn from a treatment study involving cancer patients suffering from
nausea during radiotherapy. Anna Enblom, a physiotherapist and doctoral candidate at the
Department of Medicine and Health Sciences at Linköping University and the Vårdal
Institute in Sweden, carried out four studies that are now being reported in her doctoral
dissertation. The first study involved a group that received ordinary medical treatment
for nausea, but not acupuncture. In that group only one quarter of the nauseous patients
experienced any relief. The acupuncture study of 215 patients who were undergoing
radiation treatment in the abdomen or pelvic region chose by lot one of these two
acupuncture types. 109 received traditional acupuncture, with needles penetrating the skin
in particular points. According to ancient Chinese tradition, the needle is twisted until
a certain 'needle sensation' arises. The other 106 patients received a simulated
acupuncture instead, with a telescopic, blunt placebo needle that merely touches the skin.
The acupuncture was performed by physiotherapists two or three times a week throughout the
five-week radiation period.
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full article here
Experts urge change in asthma
management
The need for an urgent change in asthma management is advocated this week by a group of
respiratory specialists, patient representatives, GPs and paediatricians from across
Europe and North America. Writing in the December issue of the European Respiratory
Journal (ERJ), the group, which includes Professor Stephen Holgate, Medical Research
Council Professor of Immunopharmacology at the University of Southampton, identifies
deficiencies in a range of areas in relation to asthma, including: diagnosis, recognition
of the disease nature, asthma control, set-up of clinical trials, treatment of asthmatic
children, asthma research and environmental conditions. The group also calls for a
concerted effort from policymakers, regulators, health professionals, industry and
patients, to remedy the significant disparities in asthma management practices between and
within European countries, to ensure better outcomes for European asthma patients. The
prevalence of asthma has increased dramatically over the last 20 years and around 180,000
deaths annually are attributable to asthma worldwide. It is particularly common in
industrialized countries. The article in the ERJ highlights the Finnish Asthma Programme
as a best-practice example of asthma management. The authors say the programme
demonstrates that early diagnosis, personalised treatment and guided self-management,
combined with patient education and reductions in tobacco smoking and exposure to
environmental risk factors, can improve patients' asthma whilst reducing overall costs.
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article here
Probiotics Improve Infant Immune
Function
A probiotic treatment for pregnant women and their infants was successful in improving the
immune function of the newborns, in a study conducted by researchers from Helsinki
University Central Hospital in Finland and published in the journal Pediatrics. "Our
results support the idea that probiotics and prebiotics may enhance immune maturation and
protect infants against respiratory pathogens," the researchers wrote.
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Negative Reactions to Antibiotics
Every year, in the United States, there are more than 140,000 incidences of bad reactions
to antibiotics which result in visits to the Emergency Department (ED), a study carried
out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated.
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Individual Air Monitoring Predicts
Prenatal Exposure to PAHs
Scientists studying human exposure to air pollutants have traditionally had to rely on
data from stations monitoring ambient pollution levels. These stations are unable to
account for neighborhood variation of or indoor exposure to pollutants such as tobacco
smoke, and thus do not capture personal exposures. An international group of researchers
studying pregnant women in Krakow, Poland, found they could accurately predict individual
exposures by using data from personal air monitors, allowing the development of a
predictive model of exposure that may be generalizable to pregnant women in similar
exposure settings [EHP 116-1509–1518; Choi et al.]. Moreover, they found most of the
women's exposure was to outdoor pollutants that penetrated indoors.
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here
DEHP Heightens Inflammatory
Response in Allergy Sufferers
Past research has suggested that di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a commonly used
plasticizer, contributes to asthma symptoms in children [EHP 116-98–103 (2008)] and
to dermatitis caused by dust mite allergens in mice [EHP 114-1266–1268 (2006)]. Both
the prevalence of allergic diseases and environmental exposure to phthalates have
increased dramatically in the past several decades, but few studies have examined how
people's mucosal airways respond to inhaled DEHP. A new study reveals that exposure to
DEHP in house dust altered the response of nasal mucosa in allergic people but not in
nonallergic people.
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here
Parathion Linked to Metabolic
Effects in Rats
Parathion and other organophosphate pesticides, the most widely used class of
insecticides, have long been known as neurotoxicants but were only recently linked to
metabolic disorders. A new study adds to the growing evidence that parathion may be
contributing to epidemics of obesity and diabetes.
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here
Dioxin Exposure and Cardiovascular
Disease
Dioxins have long been known as highly toxic compounds, having been implicated in cancer,
immune system disorders, endocrine disruption, and birth defects. Animal and in vitro
studies have also suggested a role for dioxins in heart disease. Now a systematic review
of epidemiologic studies has found an association between dioxin exposure and death from
cardiovascular diseases, particularly ischemic heart disease (reduced blood supply to the
heart).
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here
Why Mammography is NOT an Effective
Breast Cancer Screen
In the first part of the in-depth article linked below, Beyond Mammography, Dr. Len Saputo
explores the latest findings on the effectiveness and shortcomings of various detection
methods used by the mainstream medical community, including mammography, clinical breast
exams, ultrasound, and to a lesser extent, magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) and PET
scans.
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article here
Fluoride & Pineal Gland
Up until the 1990s, no research had ever been conducted to determine the impact of
fluoride on the pineal gland - a small gland located between the two hemispheres of the
brain that regulates the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that
helps regulate the onset of puberty and helps protect the body from cell damage caused by
free radicals. It is now known - thanks to the meticulous research of Dr. Jennifer Luke
from the University of Surrey in England - that the pineal gland is the primary target of
fluoride accumulation within the body. The soft tissue of the adult pineal gland contains
more fluoride than any other soft tissue in the body - a level of fluoride (~300 ppm)
capable of inhibiting enzymes. The pineal gland also contains hard tissue (hyroxyapatite
crystals), and this hard tissue accumulates more fluoride (up to 21,000 ppm) than any
other hard tissue in the body (e.g. teeth and bone). After finding that the pineal gland
is a major target for fluoride accumulation in humans, Dr. Luke conducted animal
experiments to determine if the accumulated fluoride could impact the functioning of the
gland - particulalry the gland's regulation of melatonin.Luke found that animals treated
with fluoride had lower levels of circulating melatonin, as reflected by reduced levels of
melatonin metabolites in the animals' urine. This reduced level of circulating melatonin
was accompanied - as might be expected - by an earlier onset of puberty in the
fluoride-treated female animals.
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Study finds treatment fails to
improve common form of heart failure
A medication used for high blood pressure does not improve a common form of heart failure,
according to new results from a large, international study. The study, which included
researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in key leadership positions,
appears in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, published today.
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full article here
Bone marrow-derived stem cells may
offer novel therapeutic option for skin disorder
Stem cells derived from bone marrow may serve as a novel therapeutic option to treat a
disease called epidermolysis bullosa, a disorder characterized by extraordinarily fragile
skin, according to a study prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the
American Society of Hematology.
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Study strengthens link between
tobacco smoke and behavioral problems in boys with asthma
Boys with asthma who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke have higher degrees of
hyperactivity, aggression, depression and other behavioral problems, according to
researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. In a study posted online
ahead of print by the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, the researchers
said behavioral problems increase along with higher exposure levels, but they added even
low levels of tobacco smoke may be detrimental to behavior.
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full article here
Myth about 'dirty old men'
supported by science
Middle-aged men want younger women, often touting their intelligence and their high
income; this is shown in research at Gothenburg University and Oxford University that
studied 400 lonely hearts ads to see how men and women choose partners Middle-aged men
want younger women, often touting their intelligence and their high income. This is shown
in research at Gothenburg University and Oxford University that studied 400 lonely hearts
ads to see how men and women choose partners. Research in the theory of evolution includes
a number of accepted theories about how men and women choose their partners. Among the
more established ones is that men place more emphasis on attractive appearance, whereas
resources and social status are more important to women. By examining lonely hearts
advertisements, researchers at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Oxford
have now tested how valid these presumed preferences are when modern individuals choose
partners.
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full article here
Coerced medication used in
psychiatric care despite lack of clinical evidence
More needs to be done to establish sound clinical evidence for the use of coerced
medication in inpatient psychiatric care, together with viable alternatives. Researchers
looked at studies from seven countries -- the USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Finland
and Germany -- published since 1987 and expressed concern at the lack of clinical evidence
for this "contentious" procedure.
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article here
Dormant stem cells for emergencies
A small group of stem cells in the bone marrow remains dormant almost throughout life.
Only in case of injury or blood loss do they awaken and become active. Then they start
dividing immediately to make up for the loss of blood cells. The possibility of
specifically waking up these dormant stem cells opens up new prospects for cancer
treatment.
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full article here
Angled gantry technique reduced
breast radiation exposure by 50 percent
A novel angled gantry approach to coronary CT angiography reduced radiation exposure to
the breast by more than 50%, according to Thomas Jefferson University researchers. Ethan
Halpern, M.D., associate professor of Radiology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas
Jefferson University in Philadelphia, presented the research at the 94th Scientific
Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. "Radiation
dose to the breast during coronary CT is especially a concern for young women as the dose
may increase the risk for breast cancer," Dr. Halpern said. "Physicians are
working diligently to reduce the patient radiation dose related to coronary CT."Dr.
Halpern and colleagues retrospectively reviewed 100 consecutive coronary CT angiography
images that were obtained with a 64 detector helical scanner. They evaluated sagital
images to: 1) define the position of the breasts and the gantry angulation required to
perform a CT examination parallel to the long axis of the heart; and 2) determine the
reduction in breast exposure to radiation that might be accomplished by imaging the heart
with an angled gantry acquisition.
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article here
50 years of hairy-cell leukemia
research to be observed
In 1958, Ohio State University cancer researcher Dr. Bertha Bouroncle first identified a
deadly disease now known as hairy-cell leukemia, a once fatal disease that can now be
effectively treated. Now, 50 years later researchers from across the globe are gathering
for a symposium titled "50 years of Enormous Progress in Hairy Cell Leukemia: A
Celebration of Clinical Research with Remaining Unanswered Questions."
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full article here
Mutant proteins result in
infectious prion disease in mice
A worldwide group of scientists, including Christina J. Sigurdson, D.V.M., Ph.D.,
assistant professor of pathology at the UCSD School of Medicine, has created an infectious
prion disease in a mouse model, in a step that may help unravel the mystery of this
progressive disease that affects the nervous system in humans and animals. The study, led
by Professor Dr. Adriano Aguzzi of the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of
Zurich in Switzerland, was designed to investigate the specific changes in the prion
protein that may contribute to chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is a highly infectious
prion disease found in free-ranging deer and elk that is similar to bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease in humans. Prion diseases are thought to be a result of a misfolded form of the
prion protein that induces formation of amyloid plaques in the brain – changes that
are also seen in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
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full article here
Treating Sleep Apnea in
Alzheimer’s Patients Helps Cognition
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment seems to improve cognitive
functioning in patients with Alzheimer’s disease who also suffer from obstructive
sleep apnea, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial conducted at the
University of California, San Diego. The study – led by Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D.,
professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and one of the
nation’s preeminent experts in the field of sleep disorders and sleep research in
aging populations – was published in the November issue of the Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society.
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full article here
Spreading the Joy Around
New research from James Fowler of UC San Diego and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical
School shows that happiness spreads far and wide through a social network – traveling
not just the well-known path from one person to another but even to people up to three
degrees removed. This holiday season, during gloomy economic times – which, if things
get dire enough, might be called a “depression” – it is heartening to know,
said Fowler, that “happiness spreads more robustly than unhappiness” and seems
to have a greater effect than money.
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article here
Maintaining the brain's wiring in
aging and disease
Researchers at the Babraham Institute near Cambridge, supported by the Alzheimer's
Research Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),
have discovered that the brain's circuitry survives longer than previously thought in
diseases of ageing such as Alzheimer's disease. The findings were published today in the
journal Brain. Alzheimer's disease causes nerve cells in the brain to die, resulting in
problems with memory, speech and understanding. Little is known about how the nerve cells
die, but this new research has revealed how they first lose the ability to communicate
with each other, before deteriorating further. "We've all experienced how useless a
computer is without broadband. The same is true for a nerve cell (neuron) in the brain
whose wiring (axons and dendrites) has been lost or damaged," explained Dr Michael
Coleman the project's lead researcher. "Once the routes of communication are
permanently down, the neuron will never again contribute to learning and memory, because
these 'wires' do not re-grow in the human brain." But axons and dendrites are much
more than inert fibre-optic wires. They are homes to the world's smallest transport
tracks. Every one of our hundred billion nerve cells continuously shuttles hundreds of
proteins and intracellular packages out along its axons and dendrites, and back again,
during every minute of every day. Without this process, the wires cannot be maintained and
the nervous system will cease to function within a few hours.
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full article here
Stowers Institute's Workman Lab
discovers novel histone demethylase protein complex
The Stowers Institute's Workman Lab has discovered a novel histone demethylase protein
complex characterized in work published today in Molecular Cell. The Histone H3 protein is
an important component of chromatin, the packing material wrapping up chromosomal DNA and
preventing unwanted transcription of the message encoded in the DNA. Histone H3 can be
altered by adding (methylating) or removing (demethylating) methyl groups from the histone
protein. When genes are transcribed, parts of chromosomes are opened, making them
susceptible to inappropriate use. Cells mark transcribed regions of chromosomes with a
"landmark," called H3 lysine 36 methylation (H3K36), to direct appropriate use.
Working in fruit flies, the Workman Lab investigated how cells direct dKDM4A, a novel
histone demethylase protein, to specific locations, which is important because dKDM4A is
responsible for removal of landmark histone modifications during transcription elongation.
"We discovered that dKDM4A can remove specific forms of H3K36, reversing methylation
and helping to regulate transcription elongation," said Chia-Hui Lin, Predoctoral
Researcher and lead author on the paper. "Surprisingly, we found that dKDM4a
associates with Heterochromatin Protein 1a (HP1a), a classic transcriptional silencing
factor. The binding of HP1a stimulates the histone demethylation activity of dKDM4A. In
fruit fly larvae without HP1a, we found a significantly increased level of H3K36."
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full article here
Stowers Institute's Baumann Lab
identifies key step in maturation pathway of telomerase
The Stowers Institute's Baumann Lab has discovered an important step in the maturation
pathway of telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the sequences that are lost at
chromosome ends with every cell division. The findings were published today in the advance
online publication of Nature.
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article here
New research reports on
interventions that may alter the course of epilepsy diagnosis and management
New studies presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society will
preview interventions that may alter the course of epilepsy diagnosis and management to
improve the care of people living with this common neurological condition. These studies
are among the hundreds of developments in the basic science and treatment of epilepsy and
other seizure disorders being presented by thousands of scientists, researchers and
clinicians at the conference.
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full article here
Secondhand smoke raises odds of
fertility problems in women
If you need another reason to quit smoking, consider that it may diminish your chances of
being a parent or grandparent. Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center
have found that women exposed to second hand smoke, either as adults or children, were
significantly more likely to face fertility problems and suffer miscarriages. An
epidemiologic analysis of more than 4,800 non-smoking women showed those who were exposed
to second hand smoke six or more hours per day as children and adults faced a 68 percent
greater chance of having difficulty getting pregnant and suffering one or more
miscarriages. The study is published online in Tobacco Control and is one of the first
publications to demonstrate the lasting effects of second hand smoke exposure on women
during childbearing years. "These statistics are breathtaking and certainly points to
yet another danger of second hand smoke exposure," said Luke J. Peppone, Ph.D.,
research assistant professor at Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. In the study,
four out of five women reported exposure to second hand smoke during their lifetime. Half
of the women grew up in a home with smoking parents and nearly two-thirds of them were
exposed to some second hand smoking at the time of the survey. More than 40 percent of
these women had difficulty getting pregnant (infertility lasting more than a year) or
suffered miscarriages, some repeatedly.
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article here
Deadly lung disease also linked to
heart attacks
Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are three times as likely to experience
severe coronary events -- including heart attacks -- than people without the disease,
according to a recent study that analyzed the risk of cardiovascular disease in nearly
1,000 patients with IPF and more than 3,500 matched controls.
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full article here
New target discovered to treat
epileptic seizures following brain trauma or stroke
New therapies for some forms of epilepsy may soon be possible, thanks to a discovery made
by a team of University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research
Institute neuroscience researchers. The researchers found that hemichannels -- the same
channels the researchers previously found to that cause cell death following a stroke --
may also cause epileptic seizures that occur following head trauma or a stroke.
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full article here
Researchers solve piece of
large-scale gene silencing mystery
A team led by Craig Pikaard, Ph.D., WUSTL professor of biology in arts and sciences, has
made a breakthrough in understanding the phenomenon of nucleolar dominance, the silencing
of an entire parental set of ribosomal RNA genes in a hybrid plant or animal. Since the
machinery involved in nucleolar dominance is some of the same machinery that can go
haywire in diseases such as cancer, Pikaard and his collaborators' research may have
important implications for applied medical research.
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here
Gene Packaging Tells Story Of
Cancer Development
To decipher how cancer develops, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators say
researchers must take a closer look at the packaging. Specifically, their findings in the
December 2, 2008, issue of PLoS Biology point to the three dimensional chromatin packaging
around genes formed by tight, rosette-like loops of Polycomb group proteins (PcG). The
chromatin packaging, a complex combination of DNA and proteins that compress DNA to fit
inside cells, provides a repressive hub that keeps genes in a low expression state.
“We think the polycomb proteins combine with abnormal DNA methylation of genes to
deactivate tumor suppressor genes and lock cancer cells in a primitive state,” says
Stephen B. Baylin, M.D., Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Oncology and senior author.
Prior to this discovery, investigators studying cancer genes, looked at gene silencing as
a linear process across the DNA, as if genes were flat, one dimensional objects. Research
did not take into account the way genes are packaged.
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full article here
Mix of taiji, cognitive therapy and
support groups benefits those with dementia
Those diagnosed with early stage dementia can slow their physical, mental and
psychological decline by taking part in therapeutic programs that combine counseling,
support groups, Taiji and qigong, researchers report. Some of the benefits of this
approach are comparable to those achieved with anti-dementia medications.
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here
Vitamin E shows possible promise in
easing chronic inflammation
With up to half of a person’s body mass consisting of skeletal muscle, chronic
inflammation of those muscles – which include those found in the limbs – can
result in significant physical impairment. According to University of Illinois kinesiology
and community health professor Kimberly Huey, past research has demonstrated that the
antioxidant properties of Vitamin E may be associated with reduced expression of certain
pro-inflammatory cytokines, in vitro, in various types of cells. Cytokines are regulatory
proteins that function as intercellular communicators that assist the immune system in
generating a response. To consider whether the administration of Vitamin E, in vivo, might
have similar effects on skeletal and cardiac muscle, Huey and a team of Illinois
researchers put Vitamin E to the test in mice. The team included study designer Rodney
Johnson, a U. of I. professor of animal sciences, whose previous work has suggested a
possible link, in mice, between short-term Vitamin E supplementation and reduced
inflammation in the brain. The study represents the first time researchers have looked at
in vivo effects of Vitamin E administration on local inflammatory responses in skeletal
and cardiac muscle. In this study, the researchers investigated the effects of prior
administration of Vitamin E in mice that were then injected with a low dose of E. coli
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce acute systemic inflammation. The effects were compared
with those found in placebo control groups.
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here
MU Researcher Develops Screening
Tool to Identify Patients with Prediabetes
A third of Americans with diabetes do not know that they have it, and many more who have
prediabetic conditions are unaware that they are at risk. A University of Missouri
researcher has created a clinical tool to identify those at highest risk for having
undetected hyperglycemia, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and undiagnosed diabetes. If
these conditions are identified early, patients may benefit from preventative strategies
that can minimize progression to diabetes, other diseases and mortality. "Diabetic
risk factors are not equal and assessing a combination of risk factors can be
confusing," said Richelle J. Koopman, assistant professor of family and community
medicine in the MU School of Medicine. "A tool that weighs the relative contributions
of multiple risk factors and creates an overall risk score will help clinicians decide
which patients to screen for diabetes. The tool we have developed is easy to use and the
screening can be done with pencil and paper. Patients can do it at a health fair or a
physician’s office."The Tool to Assess Likelihood of Fasting Glucose Impairment
(TAG-IT) is designed to use factors that are self-reported or easily measured. The six
factors include: age, sex, BMI, family history resting heart rate and measured high blood
pressure.
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full article here
Interferon as long-term treatment
for hepatitis C not effective, report HALT-C researchers
Use of the drug interferon as a long-term maintenance strategy to slow the progression of
liver disease associated with the hepatitis C virus is ineffective, UT Southwestern
Medical Center researchers and their colleagues from nine other institutions have found in
a multicenter study. Results of the 3½-year study, called the HALT-C (Hepatitis C
Antiviral Long-Term Treatment Against Cirrhosis) Trial, appear in today’s issue of
The New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers found no difference in the rate of
progression of liver disease among patients who received interferon and those who did
not.“It wasn’t that there was an insignificant difference; there was absolutely
no difference whatsoever in the progression to cirrhosis and other disease
complications,” said Dr. William M. Lee, professor of internal medicine at UT
Southwestern and a principal investigator for the study. “It is a negative study but
an important one.”
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full article here
Unlocking the Mysteries of Memory
Researchers led by Prof. Itzhak Fried, a neurosurgeon at Tel Aviv University’s
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, are proving scientifically what scientists have always
suspected -- that the neurons excited during an experience are the same as those excited
when we remember that experience. This finding, reported in the prestigious journal
Science in October, gives researchers a clearer picture of how memory recall works and has
important implications for understanding dementias such as Alzheimer's, in which fragments
of the memory puzzle seem to disintegrate over time.
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article here
Researchers Discover New Enzyme in
Cancer Growth
While studying the mechanics of blood clots, researchers at the University of Oklahoma
Health Sciences Center discovered a new enzyme that not only affects the blood, but seems
to play a primary role in how cancer tumors expand and spread throughout the body. The
research appeared in recent issues of the journal Blood and the Journal of Thrombosis and
Haemostasis. A research group at OU led by Patrick McKee first discovered the enzyme
called sFAP in plasma. After studying the biochemical makeup of the protein and
identifying the gene that controlled its function, they began to search gene sequencing
databases worldwide to find what it was. They didn’t find the enzyme listed for
blood, but got a match with a virtually identical protein known to cause cell growth in
tissue, including in cancer. With McKee’s discovery that the protein also exists in
blood, scientists have a new avenue to study the spread of cancer.
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here
Apple or pear shape is not main
culprit to heart woes — it's liver fat
For years, pear-shaped people who carry weight in the thighs and backside have been told
they are at lower risk for high blood pressure and heart disease than apple-shaped people
who carry fat in the abdomen. But new findings from nutrition researchers at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest body-shape comparisons don't completely
explain risk. In two studies, they report excess liver fat appears to be the real key to
insulin resistance, cholesterol abnormalities and other problems that contribute to
diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Having too much fat stored in the liver is known as
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
View full article
here
Hands free mobile phone
conversations add 5 metres to drivers' braking distances
Research led by Psychology researchers at the University of Warwick reveals that mobile
telephone conversations impair drivers' visual attention to such a degree that it can add
over 5 metres to the braking distance of a car travelling at 60 miles an hour, and causes
almost twice as many errors as drivers driving without the distraction of a mobile phone
conversation. Dr Melina Kunar, from the University of Warwick’s Department of
Psychology, and Dr Todd Horowitz, from Harvard Medical School, ran a number of experiments
in which the participants had to pay attention and respond (by pressing one of two keys on
a keyboard) to a series of discs moving around a computer screen. Some of the participants
carried out the task with no distraction. Others carried out the task while also using
speaker phones to simultaneously engage in a normal phone conversation, discussing things
such as their hobbies and interests. The researchers found that on average the reaction
times of those engaging in the hands free telephone conversation were 212 milliseconds
slower than those who undertook the task without the simultaneous telephone conversation.
A car travelling at 60 miles an hour would travel 5.7 metres (18.7 feet) in that time so
the distracting conversation would obviously increase any braking distance at that speed
by the same amount. The test participants who were distracted by a phone conversation also
made 83% more errors in the task than those not in phone conversations.
View
full article here
Interferon needed for cells to
'remember' how to defeat a virus, researchers report
Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that the immune-system
protein interferon plays a key role in “teaching” the immune system how to fight
off repeated infections of the same virus. The findings, available online and in the Dec.
15 issue of the Journal of Immunology, have potential application in the development of
more effective vaccines and anti-viral therapies. Typically, when a person is infected
with a virus, the human body immediately generates a massive number of T cells — a
type of immune cell — that kill off the infected cells. Once the infection has
cleared, most of the T cells also die off, leaving behind a small pool of central memory
cells that “remember” how to fight that particular type of virus if the person
is infected again.
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full article here
Broccoli compound targets key
enzyme in late-stage cancer
An anti-cancer compound found in broccoli and cabbage works by lowering the activity of an
enzyme associated with rapidly advancing breast cancer, according to a University of
California, Berkeley, study appearing this week in the online early edition of the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The compound, indole-3-carbinol, is
already undergoing clinical trials in humans because it was found to stop the growth of
breast and prostate cancer cells in mice. The new findings are the first to explain how
indole-3-carbinol (I3C) stops cell growth, and thus provides the basis for designing
improved versions of the chemical that would be more effective as a drug and could work
against a broader range of breast as well as prostate tumors. "I think one of the
real uses of this compound and its derivatives is combining it with other kinds of
therapies, such as tamoxifen for breast cancer and anti-androgens for prostate
cancer," said coauthor Gary Firestone, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell
biology. "Humans have co-evolved with cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and
Brussels sprouts, so this natural source has a lot fewer side effects."
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full article here
Research in twins defines shared
features of the human gut microbial communities - variations linked to obesity
Trillions of microbes make their home in the gut, where they help to break down and
extract energy and nutrients from the food we eat. Yet, scientists have understood little
about how this distinctive mix of microbes varies from one individual to the next. Now, by
cataloging the microbial species in the guts of lean and obese, identical and fraternal
female twins and their mothers using a new generation of powerful DNA sequencers,
researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that
each individual carries a unique collection of bacteria, although the communities are more
similar among family members. When the scientists looked more deeply at the microbes' DNA,
they found a striking similarity: The various collections of bacterial species carried a
common set of genes that performed key functions to complement those performed by our
human genes. The study is available in the advance online Nature.
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full article here
New test for depression
A new universal test to predict the risk of someone succumbing to major depression has
been developed by UCL (University College London) researchers. The online tool, predictD,
could eventually be used by family doctors and local clinics to identify those at risk of
depression for whom prevention might be most useful. The risk algorithm, developed by a
team led by UCL Professors Michael King and Irwin Nazareth, was tested in 6,000 people
visiting their family doctor in six countries in Europe (UK, Spain, Portugal, the
Netherlands, Slovenia and Estonia). Its accuracy was also tested in nearly 3,000 GP
attendees in a further country, Chile, in South America. The study, published in the
Archives of General Psychiatry, followed-up the participants at six and 12 months. The
team modelled their approach on risk indices for heart disease, which provide a percentage
risk estimate over a given time period. The algorithm was as accurate at predicting future
episodes of depression as similar instruments developed in Europe to predict future risk
of heart problems.
View full article here
Stanford blood scanner detects even
faint indicators of cancer
A team led by Stanford researchers has developed a prototype blood scanner that can find
cancer markers in the bloodstream in early stages of the disease, potentially allowing for
earlier treatment and dramatically improved chances of survival. The system based on
MagArray biodetection chips can find cancer-associated proteins in a blood serum sample in
less than an hour, and with much greater sensitivity than existing commercial devices. In
fact, the device, which uses magnetic nanotechnology to spot the cancer proteins, is tens
to hundreds of times more sensitive, meaning the proteins can be found while there are
relatively few of them in the bloodstream. The researchers reported their results in the
Dec. 1 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This
is essentially a proof-of-concept study showing that now we have a chip and a reader that
can find multiple biomarkers in a sample at a concentration much lower than the standard
that is commercially available," said Shan Wang, a Stanford professor of materials
science and of electrical engineering.
View full
article here
Gene which protects against lung
cancer identified
A study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has identified a gene that
protects the body from lung cancer. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, USA and funded by a £72,000 grant from the British Lung
Foundation, has found that the tumour suppressor gene, LIMD1, is responsible for
protecting the body from developing lung cancer — paving the way for possible new
treatments and early screening techniques. Lead researcher Dr Tyson Sharp and his
University of Nottingham team, together with US collaborator Dr Greg Longmore, set out to
examine if loss of the LIMD1 gene correlated with lung cancer development.
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full article here
Vitamin D found to fight placental
infection
n a paper available at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction, a team of
UCLA researchers reports for the first time that vitamin D induces immune responses in
placental tissues by stimulating production of the antimicrobial protein cathelicidin. The
study involved exposing cultured human trophoblast cells to the active form of vitamin D,
leading to production of cathelicidin and an increased antibacterial response in the
trophoblast cells. The team, headed by Dr. Martin Hewison, suspects that the ability of
the placenta to synthesize cathelicidin varies widely among women. Their discovery
suggests that placental innate immunity can be enhanced if pregnant women supplement their
diets with vitamin D.
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Cutting the cord to determine
babies' health risk from toxic exposure
Despite the well-known dangers of first- and secondhand smoke, an estimated ten percent of
pregnant women in the U.S. are smokers. Exposure of a developing baby to harmful cigarette
byproducts from mothers who smoke affects an estimated 420,000 newborns each year and
poses a significant health care burden. Now, in the first study of its kind, a team of
researchers has completed a global assessment of newborns' umbilical cord blood to better
understand the fetal health risks from smoking mothers. The research was led by Johns
Hopkins University and included Rolf Halden, a researcher from the Biodesign Institute at
Arizona State University. "Cigarette smoking is a massive onslaught on human
physiology," said Halden, who works in the institute's Center for Environmental
Biotechnology. Cigarette smoke is known to contain more than 4,000 chemicals, potentially
affecting the health of a newborn baby on multiple levels, including low birth weight,
premature delivery and small size for gestational age. The exact cause of these health
effects continues to be the subject of investigation. "Unfortunately, maternal
cigarette smoking puts babies at risk of adverse birth outcomes and increases
susceptibility to other diseases later in life," said Halden.
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Calcium and vitamin D may not be
the only protection against bone loss
New study finds diet rich in fruits and vegetables may strengthen bones. Chevy Chase,
MD—Diets that are high in protein and cereal grains produce an excess of acid in the
body which may increase calcium excretion and weaken bones, according to a new study
accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology
& Metabolism (JCEM). The study found that increasing the alkali content of the diet,
with a pill or through a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has the opposite effect and
strengthens skeletal health. "Heredity, diet, and other lifestyle factors contribute
to the problem of bone loss and fractures," said Bess Dawson-Hughes, M.D., of Tufts
University in Boston, Mass. and lead author of the study. "When it comes to dietary
concerns regarding bone health, calcium and vitamin D have received the most attention,
but there is increasing evidence that the acid/base balance of the diet is also
important." Average older adults consume diets that, when metabolized, add acid to
the body, said Dr. Dawson-Hughes. With aging, we become less able to excrete the acid. One
way the body may counteract the acid from our diets is through bone resorption, a process
by which bones are broken down to release minerals such as calcium, phosphates, and
alkaline (basic) salts into the blood. Unfortunately, increased bone resorption leads to
declines in bone mass and increases in fracture risk. "When fruits and vegetables are
metabolized they add bicarbonate, an alkaline compound, to the body," said Dr. Dawson
Hughes. "Our study found that bicarbonate had a favorable effect on bone resorption
and calcium excretion. This suggests that increasing the alkali content of the diet may
attenuate bone loss in healthy older adults." In this study, 171 men and women aged
50 and older were randomized to receive placebo or doses of either: potassium bicarbonate,
sodium bicarbonate, or potassium chloride for three months. Researchers found that
subjects taking bicarbonate had significant reductions in calcium excretion, signaling a
decrease in bone resorption. "In this study, we demonstrated that adding alkali in
pill form reduced bone resorption and reduced the losses of calcium in the urine over a
three month period," said Dr. Dawson-Hughes. "This intervention warrants further
investigation as a safe and well tolerated supplement to reduce bone loss and fracture
risk in older men and women."
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Pediatric obesity may alter thyroid
function and structure
In addition to its strong associations with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and
diabetes, pediatric obesity may induce alterations in thyroid function and structure,
according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Thyroid hormones drive metabolism, however
demonstration of a direct or strong correlation of obesity with deficient thyroid function
has been controversial, and previous studies provide conflicting conclusions. While some
studies have found that thyroid disorders may lead to obesity, this recent study shows
that in some cases, it is the obesity that may cause the disorder. "Our study shows
that alterations in thyroid function and structure are common in obese children and we may
have uncovered the link," said Giorgio Radetti, M.D., of the Regional Hospital of
Bolzano in Italy and lead author of the study. "We found an association between body
mass index and thyroid hormone levels which suggests that fat excess may have a role in
thyroid tissue modification." This study evaluated 186 overweight and obese children
over a period of nearly three years. Researchers measured subjects' thyroid hormone levels
and thyroid antibodies and also performed a thyroid ultrasound. The presence of thyroid
antibodies would suggest a diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease of
the thyroid where T-cells attack the cells of the thyroid. In this study, 73 children did
not show these antibodies, yet their ultrasound pattern was still suggestive of
Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
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A novel human stem cell-based model
of ALS opens doors for rapid drug screening
Long thought of as mere bystanders, astrocytes are crucial for the survival and well-being
of motor neurons, which control voluntary muscle movements. In fact, defective astrocytes
can lay waste to motor neurons and are the main suspects in the muscle-wasting disease
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To get to the root of this complicated relationship,
researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies for the very first time
established a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based system for modeling ALS. Their study
confirmed that dysfunctional human astrocytes turn against their charges and kill off
healthy motor neurons. But more importantly, treating the cultured cells with apocynin, a
powerful anti-oxidant, staved off motor neuron death caused by malfunctioning
astrocytes.Their findings, which appear in the Dec. 4 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell,
provide new insight into the toxic pathways that contribute to the demise of motor neurons
in ALS and open up new possibilities for drug-screening experiments using human ALS in
vitro models, as well as clinical interventions using astrocyte-based cell therapies.
"A variety of drugs that had demonstrated significant efficacy in mouse models didn't
keep their promise in both preclinical and clinical trials," says Fred H. Gage,
Ph.D., a professor in the Laboratory for Genetics, who led the study. In fact, just one
drug—riluzole— has been approved by the FDA to treat ALS, and it only slows the
course of the disease by two months. "There is an urgent need for new ALS models that
have the potential to translate into clinical trials and that could, at a minimum, be used
in conjunction with the murine models to verify drugs and drug targets," says Gage.
View full
article here
New study identifies link between
Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in healthy adults
A study published in the November issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease provides an
insight into normal, physiological levels and association between proteins involved in
development of Alzheimer's disease. A group of scientists and physicians from the
University of Washington and Puget Sound Veterans' Affairs Health Care System in Seattle,
in collaboration with groups from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of
California San Diego, performed a study in cognitively normal and generally healthy
adults, from young to old (age range 21-88 years), of both genders, measuring levels of
different brain-derived molecules associated with Alzheimer's disease. Investigators
determined that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of apolipoprotein E (apoE), one of the
most important proteins involved in transfer of fatty substances between different brain
cells, are highly correlated with the levels of proteins known to be involved in
development of Alzheimer's disease, amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau. While many
studies have previously shown that apoE gene is very important for Alzheimer's disease
development, the connection between apoE protein and other relevant CSF markers in healthy
adults was not known. Although this type of study cannot establish causal associations,
the results strongly suggest that the CSF levels of apoE may explain a significant
proportion of the levels of APP- and tau-related biological markers in the healthy human
brain, indicating a strong physiological link between apoE, APP and tau. In other words,
the study points to a possibility that modulation of the levels of apoE may affect the
levels of APP and tau in the brain.
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Metabolic reactions - Less is more
in single-celled organisms
A Northwestern University study has found a surprising similarity among four quite
different organisms. The simplest organism, a bacterium called H. pylori, uses the same
number of biochemical reactions (around 300) as yeast, the largest, most complex organism
of the group, when optimizing growth. The other surprising finding is that to optimize, or
efficiently perform, metabolic tasks, such as growing fast or converting sugars to
ethanol, the organisms tend to use only a small fraction of the biochemical reactions
available to them in the metabolic network. Less efficient, or suboptimal, behavior tends
to use a much larger number of reactions. The results contribute a new understanding of
the interplay between metabolic network activity and biological function and indicate
there is a general behavior that is common to diverse organisms. The research was led by
Adilson E. Motter, assistant professor of physics and astronomy in Northwestern's Weinberg
College of Arts and Sciences; the study will be published Friday, Dec. 5, by the journal
PLoS Computational Biology, an open-access, online journal published by the Public Library
of Science. Motter's collaborators and co-authors of the paper, titled "Spontaneous
Reaction Silencing in Metabolic Optimization," are Takashi Nishikawa, formerly a
visiting scholar at Northwestern, now of Clarkson University, and Natali Gulbahce, of
Northeastern University and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Little is known about what
the individual parts of the cell do in relation to the whole organism. These new findings
-- that many of the parts, or chemical reactions, are shut down spontaneously for the cell
to perform optimally -- provide an area of focus to scientists who want to control cell
behavior by manipulating one or more biochemical reactions.
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Study offers insights about
development of the human immune system
A UCSF study has found that a surprisingly high number of maternal cells enters the fetus
during pregnancy, prompting the generation of special immune cells in the fetus that
suppress a response against the mother. Such peaceful co-existence represents a form of
"tolerance," or the way in which the immune system of one individual is able to
live side-by-side with foreign objects (or "antigens") that come from elsewhere.
The new finding may be important for areas of medical research ranging from stem cell
transplantation to the way in which the body can adapt to the presence of chronic
infectious agents. In previous studies, the same UCSF research team found that the human
fetal immune system is made up of many special immune cells, known as regulatory T cells.
In the new study, the researchers focused on trying to understand why this might be so.
They found that cells from the mother cross the placenta into the fetus during the course
of pregnancy, inducing the generation of so-called "regulatory T cells" that
help to enforce a state of tolerance between the fetus and the mother. "These results
provide one potential explanation for the longstanding observation that many individuals
demonstrate some level of immunological tolerance towards unshared maternal HLA
antigens," said lead author, Jeff Mold, a biomedical sciences graduate student in the
UCSF Division of Experimental Medicine.
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A little wine boosts omega-3 in the
body - Researchers find a novel mechanism for a healthier heart
Moderate alcohol intake is associated with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in plasma
and red blood cells. This is the major finding of the European study IMMIDIET that will be
published in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, an official
publication of the American Society for Nutrition and is already available on line
(www.ajcn.org ). The study suggests that wine does better than other alcoholic drinks.
This effect could be ascribed to compounds other than alcohol itself, representing a key
to understand the mechanism lying behind the heart protection observed in moderate wine
drinkers. The IMMIDIET study examined 1,604 citizens from three geographical areas -
south-west London in England, Limburg in Belgium and Abruzzo in Italy. Thanks to a close
cooperation with General Practitioners of these areas, all participants underwent a
comprehensive medical examination, including a one year recall food frequency
questionnaire to assess their dietary intake, alcohol consumption included. Omega-3 fatty
acids, mainly derived from fish, are considered as protective against coronary heart
disease and sudden cardiac death, thus their high blood concentration is definitely good
for our health.
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full article here
Mayo Clinic identifies best
treatments for long-term survival in brain tumor patients
A new Mayo Clinic study found that patients with low-grade gliomas survived longest when
they underwent aggressive surgeries to successfully remove the entire tumor. If safely
removing the entire tumor was not possible, patients survived significantly longer when
surgery was followed by radiation therapy. This study is available online as an advance
publication in Neuro-Oncology
(http://neuro-oncology.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/15228517-2008-102v1). Gliomas
are a type of brain tumor that form in the brain or spinal cord tissue and can spread
within the nervous system. Low-grade gliomas are malignant and slow growing; overall,
patients' average survival is five to seven years after diagnosis, even with treatment.
Annually, about 17,000 Americans are diagnosed with a glioma. Of that total, 3,000 to
4,000 are categorized as low-grade. Mayo Clinic physicians treat more than 4,000 adults
and children who have gliomas and other brain and nervous system tumors each year.
"Mayo Clinic has a long history of expertise in treating patients with brain
tumors," says Nadia Laack, M.D., a Mayo Clinic radiation oncologist and lead author
of this study. "This makes our study unique in terms of the large volumes of patients
seen here and the extensive length of follow-up." Dr. Laack and a team of Mayo Clinic
researchers studied the records of 314 adult patients with low-grade gliomas who were
diagnosed between 1960 and 1992 and had an average of 13 years of follow-up. Nearly half
of the patients who underwent aggressive surgeries (gross total resection or radical
subtotal resection) were free of tumor recurrence 15 years after diagnosis.
View full article here
Researchers identify cell group key
to Lyme disease arthritis
A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology and Albany
Medical College has illuminated the important role of natural killer (NK) T cells in Lyme
disease, demonstrating that the once little understood white blood cells are central to
clearing the bacterial infection and reducing the intensity and duration of arthritis
associated with Lyme disease. "Our findings are that the NK T cells are critical to
preventing the chronic inflammatory infection that causes Lyme arthritis and they
participate in clearing the bacteria which cause it," said Mitchell Kronenberg,
Ph.D., the La Jolla Institute's president & scientific director and co-senior author
on the study, which used a mouse model of Lyme disease. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia
burgdorferi, a bacterium transmitted to humans by the bite of infected deer ticks. Typical
symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and sometimes skin rashes. If left untreated,
it can spread to the joints, the heart and the nervous system, and it can lead to serious
health problems. Lyme disease currently is the most common vector (insect)-borne disease
in the United States. "What this study demonstrates is that NK T cells are an
important part of our defense against Lyme disease," said Timothy J. Sellati, Ph.D.,
an associate professor at Albany Medical College and co-senior author on the study.
"This offers the possibility that we can exploit that knowledge therapeutically and
potentially develop immunological agents that can trigger more NK T cells to aide in
fighting this disease." Sellati added that "NK T cells alone cannot clear Lyme
disease, but are a key part of a collective immune defense." The study's findings are
outlined in a paper, "NKT cells prevent chronic joint inflammation after infection
with Borrelia burgdorferi," published this week in the online version of the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
View full article
here
Stress-related disorders affect
brain's processing of memory
Researchers using functional MRI (fMRI) have determined that the circuitry in the area of
the brain responsible for suppressing memory is dysfunctional in patients suffering from
stress-related psychiatric disorders. Results of the study will be presented today at the
annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). "For patients
with major depression and other stress-related disorders, traumatic memories are a source
of anxiety," said Nivedita Agarwal, M.D., radiology resident at the University of
Udine in Italy, where the study is being conducted, and research fellow at the Brain
Imaging Center of McLean Hospital, Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in
Boston. "Because traumatic memories are not adequately suppressed by the brain, they
continue to interfere with the patient's life." Dr. Agarwal and colleagues used brain
fMRI to explore alterations in the neural circuitry that links the prefrontal cortex to
the hippocampus, while study participants performed a memory task. Participants included
11 patients with major depression, 13 with generalized anxiety disorder, nine with panic
attack disorders, five with borderline personality disorder and 21 healthy individuals.
All patients reported suffering varying degrees of stressful traumatic events, such as
sexual or physical abuse, difficult relationships or "mobbing" – a type of
bullying or harassment – at some point in their lives.
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Thrombosis patients face greater
risks than previously believed
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT), the formation of blood clots in the lower limbs, is the
third-most common vascular disease in North America after heart attack and stroke, and is
a frequent complication in hospitalized patients. DVT is a potentially serious condition
that can lead to rapid death from pulmonary embolism if untreated, and has become such a
serious health concern that the U.S. Surgeon General and the Canadian Safer Healthcare
Now! coalition both recently issued highly publicized calls to action to reduce the number
of cases of DVT in high risk groups, in part by improving the adoption of preventative
measures like the early administration of blood thinners. However, researchers at McGill
University and the affiliated Jewish General Hospital – along with colleagues from
Université de Montréal, McMaster University and other institutions – warn that,
beyond the well-known risks of pulmonary embolism, DVT patients also face postthrombotic
syndrome (PTS), a poorly understood, long-term complication not addressed by traditional
treatment approaches like blood thinners. Their conclusions, derived from a large,
multicentre Canadian study, were published in the November issue of the Annals of Internal
Medicine. The study followed 387 patients at eight hospital centres in Quebec and Ontario
for two years, the researchers said, the first multicentre study of PTS ever undertaken in
North America.
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article here
House Ear Institute, TGen and
Belgian researchers identify gene in age-related hearing loss
Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, accounts for 30 percent of all hearing loss. So,
why do some people lose their hearing as they get older but other people can still hear a
pin drop? The answer may be in a study released online in the journal Human Molecular
Genetics. "This is the first ever and largest genome-wide association study for
age-related hearing loss," said Rick Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and House Ear
Institute principal investigator and surgeon at the House Clinic. The study was conducted
in collaboration with colleagues at the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen), Affymetrix in Santa Clara, Calif., and the University of Antwerp,
Belgium. It uncovered several genes, but one gene stands out and is believed to put people
at risk for hearing loss as they age. They discovered a common variant in the GRM7 gene,
which the research team believes may be associated with susceptibility to glutamate
excitotoxicity and hearing loss. It is the overexpression of glutamate that causes damage
to the inner and outer hair cells in the inner ear leading to age-related hearing loss.
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Mini heart attacks lessen damage
from major ones
Researchers have discovered one potential mechanism by which briefly cutting off, then
restoring, blood flow to arteries prior to a heart attack lessens the damage caused,
according to a study published today in the journal Cardiovascular Research. The new
mechanism points to how future drugs could provide protection ahead of heart attacks and
strokes for those at highest risk. In the nearer term, the work may help to prevent damage
caused as U.S. heart surgeons temporarily cut off blood flow 450,000 times each year to
perform coronary artery bypass graft surgeries. Lastly, the discoveries hold clues to the
value of the Mediterranean diet beyond red wine. In severely diseased coronary arteries,
fatty deposits in blood vessel walls become more likely to rupture, which releases
proteins into the blood that cause blood clots and cut off blood flow. When a vessel
becomes completely blocked (ischemia) the downstream tissue begins to die for lack of
oxygen and nutrients. Worse yet, when blood flow is restored (reperfusion), the returning
blood throws off cellular chemistry, creating as a side-product a burst of highly reactive
"free radicals" that tear apart cell components and cause cells to
self-destruct. Later in the process, the immune system attacks the cardiac tissue damaged
by ischemia and reperfusion, causing inflammation which can lead to heart failure.
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article here
Drug marketing techniques may be
risking patient safety
With new drugs being reviewed by regulatory agencies and then released onto the market
faster than ever before, patients' safety is being compromised, warns a study published on
bmj.com today. Dr David Kao from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, argues
that while drug regulatory bodies are under pressure to make new drugs available more
quickly, there are concerns that the deadlines for approving drugs have shifted the focus
away from safety. Kao reviews trends in drug approval times in the United States, and
suggests how drug marketing techniques could be used to improve the way new drugs are
monitored. Previous research has shown that drugs approved in the US during the two months
before the mandated deadline were more likely to be withdrawn for safety reasons or to
carry a warning. Today's marketing techniques are so sophisticated, says Kao, that once a
drug has been approved the products can be released on websites within 90 minutes. He
cites the example of Merck's new treatment (sitagliptin) for hyperglycaemia (high blood
sugar levels)—within 14 days of approval 188 million patients or 73% of the insured
US population had been targeted by the marketing campaign.
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Secreted protein sends signal that
fat is on the way
After you eat a burger and fries or other fat-filled meal, a protein produced by the liver
may send a signal that fat is on the way, suggests a report in the December issue of the
journal Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. Researchers have found in mice that the
liver produces a protein called adropin, which rises in response to high-fat foods and
falls after fasting. The protein seems to play a role in governing the activity of other
metabolic genes, particularly those involved in the production of lipids from
carbohydrates. Studies of the protein in obese animals suggest that it also plays a role
in insulin response and in preventing the buildup of fat in the liver (a condition known
as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease), the researchers said."What is remarkable is
that it appears that this factor is specifically regulated by the fat content of the
diet," making it one of the first such factors ever discovered, said Andrew Butler of
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, part of the Louisiana State University System. (The
findings follow another report in the November 26th issue of the journal Cell of a
phospholipid produced by the gut that rises after a fatty meal, signaling the brain to eat
less.) The new results suggest that treatments designed to deliver adropin or otherwise
boost its levels may hold promise in the war against obesity and associated metabolic
disorders, including fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. Indeed, Butler's team found
that animals that become obese after eating a high-fat diet for a period of 3 months or
due to a genetic mutation don't produce adropin normally. However, obese animals that are
manipulated to produce excess adropin or that are given the protein show less fat in their
livers and become more responsive to insulin. The mice also ultimately eat less and lose
weight, but the other metabolic improvements do not depend on the animals' shrinking
waistlines, Butler said.
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full article here
New Breast Imaging Technology
Targets Hard-to-Detect Cancers
Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) is effective in the detection of cancers not found on
mammograms or by clinical exam, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting
of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). "BSGI can identify the most
difficult to detect breast cancer—invasive lobular carcinoma," said lead author
Rachel F. Brem, M.D., professor of radiology and director of the Breast Imaging and
Interventional Center at The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington,
D.C. "It also can help us detect additional lesions of all types of breast cancer in
women whose mammograms show only one suspicious lesion." Breast cancer affects more
women than any other non-skin cancer and, according to the American Cancer Society,
accounts for more than 40,000 deaths annually in the U.S. Most experts agree that the best
way to decrease breast cancer mortality is through early detection using mammography and
clinical breast exam. However, some cancers are difficult to detect with mammography and
clinical exam, particularly in the earliest stage when treatment is most effective. While
mammography findings are characterized by the difference in appearance between normal and
suspicious breast tissue, BSGI findings are based on how cancerous cells function.
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Mobile phones affect memory in
laboratory animals
Can radiation from cell phones affect the memory? Yes, at least it does so in rat
experiments at the Division of Neurosurgery, Lund University, in Sweden. Henrietta Nittby
studied rats that were exposed to mobile phone radiation for two hours a week for more
than a year. These rats had poorer results on a memory test than rats that had not been
exposed to radiation. The memory test consisted of releasing the rats in a box with four
objects mounted in it. These objects were different on the two occasions, and the
placement of the objects was different from one time to the other. The actual test trial
was the third occasion. This time the rats encountered two of the objects from the first
and two of the objects from the second occasion. The control rats spent more time
exploring the objects from the first occasion, which were more interesting since the rats
had not seen them for some time. The experiment rats, on the other hand, evinced less
pronounced differences in interest.
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full article here
Weather matters to particulate
pollution
Dry winter weather and low level mixing of pollutants from vehicle exhausts in cities
leads to the highest concentrations of the tiny soot particles, known as PM10 particles,
according to German scientists writing in the January issue of the International Journal
of Environment and Pollution. Their findings suggest that traffic controls, other than an
outright ban for several days at a time, would have little effect on levels. Particulate
matter of less than 10 nanometres across and smaller can penetrate the deepest parts of
the lungs. PM10 have thus been associated with an increased incidence of breathing
problems, asthma, and even lung cancer among city dwellers. Jutta Rost of the
Meteorological Institute, at the University of Freiburg, and colleagues there and at the
Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, in Dresden, and the
Federal State Institute for Environmental Protection, in Baden-Wuerttemberg, have carried
out a retrospective analysis of the atmospheric conditions that affected PM10 levels in
four cities in South-West Germany during the period from 2001 to 2005.
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Proinflammatory Cytokines could
help improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer
Researchers from the University of Alcalá (UAH) have concluded that there could be a link
between the high expression of proinflammatory Cytokines and high levels of prostate
specific antigen (PSA) with the progression of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of
the most common tumours affecting the male population, and a digital rectal examination is
the main method for an early detection. Several years ago, prostate specific antigen (PSA)
levels where introduced as a diagnostic test and follow-up of the disease, but there are
alternative situations such as manipulation of the prostate gland in a biopsy or a rectal
exam, and other benign diseases like hyperplasia, that cause a temporary elevation of PSA
levels leading to false positives. The opposite is also true, since normal levels of PSA
have been measured in patients suffering the tumoural pathology. Therefore the prostate
specific antigen is not an indication of the degree of development of the disease. The
researchers of the department of genetics and cell biology at the University of Alcalá
decided to look for new prognostic markers that together with the PSA would increase the
diagnostic specificity of the disease. The molecules selected for the study where
Proinflammatory Cytokines that already play an important role in the development of the
cancer. Their work consisted in relating the expression of different Proinflammatory
Cytokines, Interleuquines 1 & 6 and the necrosis factor-alpha (TFN-a), with the levels
of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in blood serum, both for normal patients (without
tumoural pathology), as well as for pathologic conditions (hyperplasia and cancer), while
also relating them to their role in tumour progression as stated by Mar Royuela.
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full article here
Intelligent 'have better sperm'
Men of higher intelligence tend to produce better quality sperm, UK research suggests. A
team from the Institute of Psychiatry analysed data from former US soldiers who served
during the Vietnam war era.
View full article here
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