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Tomatoes Created That Mimic Actions Of Good Cholesterol

Date: Mar-21-2013
UCLA researchers have genetically engineered tomatoes to produce a peptide that mimics the actions of good cholesterol when consumed. Published in the April issue of the Journal of Lipid Research and featured on the cover, their early study found that mice that were fed these tomatoes in freeze-dried, ground form had less inflammation and plaque build-up in their arteries. "This is one of the first examples of a peptide that acts like the main protein in good cholesterol and can be delivered by simply eating the plant," said senior author Dr. Alan M...

1 Percent Acute Hepatitis C Prevalence In The Newly Incarcerated

Date: Mar-21-2013
A study published in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, estimates that the prevalence of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is nearly one percent among newly incarcerated inmates with a history of recent drug use. Findings suggest that systematic screening of intravenous (IV) drug users who are new to the prison system could identify more than 7,000 cases of HCV across the U.S. annually - even among asymptomatic inmates...

Researchers Find New Clues In Hunt For Heredity In Type 2 Diabetes

Date: Mar-21-2013
Type 2 diabetes has strong hereditary tendencies and the genes we are born with cannot be changed. However, new research from Lund University in Sweden shows that we can modify the function of the genes through the epigenetic changes that take place in the course of life. Epigenetic changes are usually described as a link between heredity and environment and come about as a result of factors such as ageing, chemicals, medication, diet, exercise and drugs...

Smoking Cessation Improves Pain In Spine Patients

Date: Mar-21-2013
Smoking is a known risk factor for back pain and disc disease. In a new study presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers reviewed smoking cessation rates and related pain in 6,779 patients undergoing treatment for spinal disorders with severe axial (spine) or radicular (leg) pain. Information on each patient's age, gender, weight, smoking history, assessment of pain, treatment type and co-morbid depression also were assessed. Overall, 8.9 percent of patients over the age of 55 smoked compared with 23...

Genes In Healthy Breast Tissue May Predict Who Will Benefit From Drugs To Prevent Estrogen-Sensitive Breast Cancer

Date: Mar-21-2013
A newly identified set of genes may predict which women are at high risk for getting breast cancer that is sensitive to estrogen and, therefore, would be helped by taking drugs to prevent it, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. "We now have the possibility of predicting if a preventive drug will work for a woman at high risk of breast cancer, so that we don't expose women to the risks and side effects of this drug if it won't help them," said Seema Khan, M.D., senior author of the study, which was published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research...

Tiny, Portable Personal Blood Testing Implant That Sends Data Through Mobile Phone Network

Date: Mar-21-2013
Humans are veritable chemical factories - we manufacture thousands of substances and transport them, via our blood, throughout our bodies. Some of these substances can be used as indicators of our health status. A team of EPFL scientists has developed a tiny device that can analyze the concentration of these substances in the blood. Implanted just beneath the skin, it can detect up to five proteins and organic acids simultaneously, and then transmit the results directly to a doctor's computer...

Heart Disease Patients Who Suffer From Anxiety, Depression At Increased Risk Of Dying

Date: Mar-21-2013
Heart disease patients who have anxiety have twice the risk of dying from any cause compared to those without anxiety, according to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Patients with both anxiety and depression have triple the risk of dying, researchers said. "Many studies have linked depression to an increased risk of death in heart disease patients," said Lana Watkins, Ph.D., lead author of the study and an associate professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C...

Inherited Variations In A Few Genes Linked To A Substantially Increased Risk Of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Date: Mar-21-2013
Humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes that carry instructions for assembling the proteins that do the work of cells. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital found that children who inherit certain variations in four particular genes are at much higher risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The study also showed that Hispanic patients were more likely than patients of European or African ancestry to inherit high-risk versions of two of these genes...

In High-Risk Prostate Cancer, Zoledronic Acid Not Found To Prevent Bone Metastases

Date: Mar-21-2013
The initial study results of the Zometa European Study (ZEUS) showed no difference in the incidence of bone metastases between the Zometa group and control arm, said Prof. Manfred Wirth during the closing and fourth plenary session of the 28th Annual EAU Congress. "There is no difference in the incidence of bone metastases and there is no difference in survival," said Wirth in his brief presentation on whether Zometa can prevent bone metastases in high risk, metastatic prostate cancer patients...

Potential Approach To Treating Atherosclerosis And Other Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

Date: Mar-21-2013
A multicenter team of researchers, including scientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed biodegradable nanoparticles that are capable of delivering inflammation-resolving drugs to sites of tissue injury. The nanoparticles, which were successfully tested in mice, have potential for the treatment of a wide array of diseases characterized by excessive inflammation, such as atherosclerosis...