Health News

Alzheimer's Found To Be More Aggressive Among Younger Elderly But Slows In Advanced Age

Date: Aug-05-2012
The greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is advancing age. By age 85, the likelihood of developing the dreaded neurological disorder is roughly 50 percent. But researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say AD hits hardest among the "younger elderly" - people in their 60s and 70s - who show faster rates of brain tissue loss and cognitive decline than AD patients 80 years and older. The findings, reported online in the journal PLOS One, have profound implications for both diagnosing AD - which currently afflicts an estimated 5...

Gut Microbe Changes That Usually Promote Obesity And Diabetes Are Beneficial During Pregnancy

Date: Aug-05-2012
The composition of microbes in the gut changes dramatically during pregnancy, according to a study published by Cell Press in the August 3rd issue of the journal Cell. Although these changes are associated with metabolic disease under most circumstances, they could be beneficial in pregnant women. "This is the first in-depth characterization of the gut microbiota associated with pregnancy," says senior study author Ruth Ley of Cornell University...

Risk For Testicular Cancer Increases With Genetic Copy-Number Variants

Date: Aug-05-2012
Genetics clearly plays a role in cancer development and progression, but the reason that a certain mutation leads to one cancer and not another is less clear. Furthermore, no links have been found between any cancer and a type of genetic change called "copy-number variants," or CNVs. Now, a new study published by Cell Press in The American Journal of Human Genetics identifies CNVs associated with testicular cancer risk, but not with the risk of breast or colon cancer. Some cancers, including breast and colon cancer, are caused by mutations that are passed from one generation to the next...

Molecule Discovered That Converts Stem Cells Into Heart Cells

Date: Aug-05-2012
For years, scientists have been looking for a good source of heart cells that can be used to study cardiac function in the lab, or perhaps even to replace diseased or damaged tissue in heart disease patients. To do this, many are looking to stem cells. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), the Human BioMolecular Research Institute, and ChemRegen, Inc. have been searching for molecules that convert stem cells to heart cells for about eight years - and now they've found one...

Breast Cancer Slowed By Plant-Based Compound In Mouse Model

Date: Aug-05-2012
The natural plant compound phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) hinders the development of mammary tumors in a mouse model with similarities to human breast cancer progression, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Edible plants are gaining ground as chemopreventative agents. PEITC has shown to be effective as a chemopreventative agent in mice for colon, intestinal, and prostate cancer, by inducing apoptosis. In order to determine the efficacy of PEITC in mammary tumors in mice, Shivendra V. Singh, Ph.D...

Study Helps Identify Cellular Mechanisms For Increased Bone Density Seen With Moderate Alcohol Consumption Post-Menopause

Date: Aug-05-2012
Women after menopause tend to develop weaker bones from what is known as osteoporosis, which may lead to fractures (especially hip fractures) from falling. The weakness of the bones results from an imbalance between the normal resorption (a type of dissolving of old bone) and the laying down of new bone, an ongoing process for both men and women referred to as "bone turnover." For poorly understood reasons, after menopause the resorption of old bone in women continues but new bone is laid down less well, leading to a decrease in bone density...

Structural Analysis Opens The Way To New Anti-Influenza Drugs

Date: Aug-05-2012
Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have determined the detailed 3-dimensional structure of part of the flu virus' RNA polymerase, an enzyme that is crucial for influenza virus replication. This important finding is published in PLoS Pathogens. The research was done on the 2009 pandemic influenza strain but it will help scientists to design innovative drugs against all the different influenza strains, and potentially lead to a new class of anti-flu drugs in the next 5-10 years...

A Better Understanding Of Rhomboid Proteases May Lead To New Therapies For Malaria And Other Parasitic Diseases

Date: Aug-05-2012
Johns Hopkins scientists have decoded for the first time the "stability blueprint" of an enzyme that resides in a cell's membrane, mapping which parts of the enzyme are important for its shape and function. These studies, published in advance online in Structure and in Nature Chemical Biology, could eventually lead to the development of drugs to treat malaria and other parasitic diseases. "[It's] the first time we really understand the architectural logic behind the structure of the enzyme," says Sinisa Urban, Ph.D...

Hope For New Obesity And Diabetes Treatments From Mechanism That Turns White Fat Into Energy-Burning Brown Fat

Date: Aug-05-2012
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have identified a mechanism that can give energy-storing white fat some of the beneficial characteristics of energy-burning brown fat. The findings, based on studies of mice and of human fat tissue, could lead to new strategies for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. The study was published in the online edition of the journal Cell. Humans have two types of fat tissue: white fat, which stores excess energy in the form of triglycerides, and brown fat, which is highly efficient at dissipating stored energy as heat...

Bullying Research Looks To Twitter

Date: Aug-04-2012
Hundreds of millions of daily posts on the social networking service Twitter are providing a new window into bullying - a tough nut to crack for researchers. "Kids are pretty savvy about keeping bullying outside of adult supervision, and bullying victims are very reluctant to tell adults about it happening to them for a host of reasons," says Amy Bellmore, a University of Wisconsin-Madison educational psychology professor. "They don't want to look like a tattletale, or they think an adult might not do anything about it...