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Could leptin explain the link between abdominal obesity and cardiovascular disease
Date: Oct-09-2013High levels of adipose tissue hormone leptin in the blood reduces blood vessels' ability to dilate, and also affects blood clotting, all of which increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. These are some of the results that Manuel Gonzalez shows in his doctoral thesis that he defended at Umea University. Numerous population studies have shown that overweight people, especially those with abdominal obesity, have a higher risk of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction...
In methamphetamine dependent rats, stress steroid mediated withdrawal anxiety reversible by flumazenil
Date: Oct-09-2013SUNY Downstate Medical Center announced today that Sheryl Smith, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology, has published new findings demonstrating a reproducible pathology that may help shed light on anxiety and mood volatility in methamphetamine dependence. In her animal study, Dr. Smith demonstrates that neuroactive stress steroids can trigger identifiable changes to the brains of methamphetamine dependent rats in withdrawal. Interestingly, Dr. Smith notes, these changes appear to be reversible by an existing pharmacological agent - flumazenil...
Smoking during pregnancy affects molecular mechanisms, children's immune systems
Date: Oct-09-2013The Leipzig Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research has gained new insights into the influence of tobacco smoke in utero. For the first time, it could be demonstrated with smoking pregnant women and their children, how exposure to tobacco smoke affects the development of the human immune system at the molecular level. The focus was on microRNA - a short, single-stranded RNA molecule that is now recognised as playing an important role in gene regulation...
Thesis studies link between asthma and exhaled nitric oxide
Date: Oct-09-2013A researcher at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has produced a PhD thesis at the Paediatric Pneumology section of the Hospital Universitario Donostia in San Sebastian; it deals with the link between asthma and exhaled nitric oxide. In a piece of research run at the Paediatric Service of the Hospital Universitario Donostia, Dr Paula Corcuera-Elosegui, assistant consultant in Infant Pneumology, has studied the validity of the exhaled nitric oxide measurement as a complementary procedure in diagnosing and monitoring treatment for childhood asthma and overseeing the condition...
Detecting BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations via new, clinically validated diagnostic test
Date: Oct-09-2013The recognition of a causal link between mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer has intensified the demand for genetic testing. Identifying mutations in these large genes by conventional methods can be time consuming and costly. A report in the November issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describes a new technique using second-generation sequencing technology that is as sensitive as the standard methodology but has the potential to improve the efficiency and productivity of genetic testing laboratories...
Saving money by delivering meals to seniors
Date: Oct-09-2013Home-delivered meals bring not only food to seniors but also the opportunity to remain in their homes. A new study by Brown University public health researchers projects that if every U.S. state in the lower 48 expanded the number of seniors receiving meals by just 1 percent, 1,722 more Medicaid recipients avoid living in a nursing home and most states would experience a net annual savings from implementing the expansion. Pennsylvania would see the greatest net savings - $5.7 million - as Medicaid costs for nursing home care dropped more than costs rose for delivering the additional meals...
Cognitive function in Down's syndrome restored in mouse model
Date: Oct-09-2013A selective GABA inverse agonist has restored cognitive function in a mouse model of Down's syndrome (DS) and has the potential to benefit humans, French researchers have revealed. "The drug we used is a specific GABA-A α5 inverse agonist (α5IA) that hypothetically could combat the abnormal neuronal excitation/inhibition balance associated with DS", explained lead researcher Dr Benoit Delatour from the Research Centre of the Institute of Brain and Spinal Cord (Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de Moelle Epinière) at the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris...
Identifying individuals who are qualified to perform the role of clinical ethics consultants
Date: Oct-09-2013Clinical ethicists play a vital role in hospitals and other health care systems by helping to resolve ethical conflicts that arise between patients, families, and clinicians about end-of-life care and other important medical decisions. To improve the quality of clinical ethics consultants, the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) has proposed a method for assessing them. An article in the Hastings Center Report describes the process and explains its importance...
Wonder compound resveratrol the basis for new potential treatment for atrial fibrillation
Date: Oct-09-2013An international research team led by medical scientists at the University of Alberta has shown that new medications based on resveratrol - a compound found in red wine and nuts - may be used to treat a common heart-rhythm problem known as atrial fibrillation. Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Peter Light and his colleagues recently published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal, British Journal of Pharmacology...
Factors linked to creation of accountable care organizations
Date: Oct-09-2013Regions of the U.S. where doctors and hospitals are consolidated into large networks are more likely to have accountable care organizations, medical practice structures intended to improve medical care and cut costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The findings may help policymakers craft new policies to accelerate growth of accountable care organizations, a key cost control strategy promoted under the federal Affordable Care Act...
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