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Exposure to pollutants may affect immunity

New epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to environmental pollutants may have an adverse impact on immune responses to childhood vaccinations. The research appears in the Aug. 22, 2006, online edition of Public Library of Science Medicine.

The study looked at two groups of children in the Faroe Islands, which are located in the North Atlantic and where traditional diets may include whale blubber contaminated with polychlorinated........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/22/2006 8:03:09 PM)

Ending Hospital Stays For Blood Clots

Treatment of blood clots in the deep veins of the legs or the lungs with an older, less expensive form of the anticoagulant medicine heparin can be just as safe and effective as similar therapy with a newer and more expensive heparin, as per a research studyled by Clive Kearon, professor of medicine at McMaster University, reported in the August 23 issue of JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association).

When injected subcutaneously........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/22/2006 6:40:25 PM)

Leadership Role In TMJ Research

Scientist Appointed as the Milton & Renee Glass Family Fellow in Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-Skeletal Research.

Boston--The Forsyth Institute has announced the appointment of Lin Xu, MD, PhD, as the Milton & Renee Glass Family Fellow in Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-Skeletal Research. Dr. Dominick DePaola, President and Chief Executive of Forsyth said, "I am delighted with the appointment and with the entry into this exciting new field of........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/22/2006 4:57:42 AM)

Molecular Process Underlying Leukemia

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a molecular process in cells that is crucial to the development of two common leukemias.

The findings help explain how fundamental cell processes go awry during cancer development and represent a first step toward new, targeted therapys for leukemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) leukemias develop when certain........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/21/2006 10:20:16 PM)

Ozone forecaster unveiled

People with asthma or other respiratory problems can breathe a sigh of relief thanks to University of Houston professors who have recently unveiled a forecasting system that provides air quality data on ozone conditions.

With the intent to not only increase public awareness, but also help Texas manage air quality issues, the Institute for Multi-dimensional Air Quality Studies (IMAQS) at UH has been operating an air quality forecasting system........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/21/2006 9:12:01 PM)

Bulls-eye For Antibiotic Target

A Purdue University researcher has opened the door for possible antibiotic treatments for a variety of diseases by determining the structure of a protein that controls the starvation response of E. coli.

This research is applicable to the treatment of many diseases because that same protein is found in numerous harmful bacteria, including those that cause ulcers, leprosy, food poisoning, whooping cough, meningitis, sexually transmitted........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/21/2006 9:08:21 PM)

Focus On Bullying Hotspots

In the battle against bullying, school officials and parents usually focus on the behavior of the bully, but to get to the root of the problem, they also must look at the physical context of the school, says Ronald Pitner, Ph.D., school violence expert and assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Bullying behavior, and school violence more generally, typically occurs in predictable locations within schools,"........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/20/2006 3:18:05 PM)

Trial Of New Asthma Treatment Calls For Volunteers

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are seeking participants for the AIR2 (Asthma Interventional Research) international, multi-center clinical trial, which explores whether a new asthma treatment improves asthma care.

The trial, the first test of the procedure in the United States, focuses on a procedure called bronchial thermoplasty to treat asthma. Early patient data from trials outside the United States........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/20/2006 2:35:34 PM)

Technology For Brain Cooling Unlikely To Help Trauma Patients

Attempts to cool the brain to reduce injury from stroke and other head trauma may face a significant obstacle: current cooling devices can't penetrate very deeply into the brain.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis used rats to validate a "cold shielding" effect of blood flow that they previously predicted theoretically. The shielding effect, created by large quantities of warm blood that continually perfuse........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/20/2006 2:10:55 PM)

Two-headed Snakes May Make Guinness Book

With regard to snakes, there are Guinness World Records for the heaviest living snake, longest fangs and even one for sitting in a bathtub with the most live rattlesnakes.

In regard to multiple heads, there are Guinness records for the most heads of state together, most heads shaved in four hours and the most consecutive haircuts given in a day.

But a record that combines snakes and multiple heads? A record, say, for the largest exhibit........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/19/2006 8:57:49 AM)

Core Needle Biopsy Gives An Accurate Picture

The gene expression profile detected in the core needle biopsy of a breast tumour is representative of gene expression in the whole tumour. A study published recently in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research confirms the reliability of core needle biopsy as a tool in breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The study also shows that the gene expression profile of a core needle biopsy might be more accurate than the profile of a surgical........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/18/2006 6:38:10 AM)

Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Progress

The body's spinal cord is like a super highway of nerves. When an injury occurs, the body's policing defenses put up a roadblock in the form of a scar to prevent further injury, but it stops all neural traffic from moving forward.

Scientists from Case Western Reserve University, Drexel University and the University of Arkansas bypassed this roadblock in the spinal cord. First, the scientists regenerated the severed nerve fibers, also........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/17/2006 11:47:43 PM)

Cause of Ischemic Stroke Analyzed

In contrast to traditional beliefs that stroke-causing clots derived from arterial and cardiac sources are distinctly different, a new UCLA study shows they are composed of similar components.

Researchers studied clots removed from the brain blood vessels of 25 stroke victims. The clots were retrieved during treatment using a novel mechanical clot-retrieval device called the MERCI (Mechanical Embolus Removal in Cerebral Ischemia) Retriever.........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/17/2006 11:25:19 PM)

High-Fat Copper-Rich Diets

Among older adults whose diets are high in saturated and trans fats, a high intake of copper may be associated with an accelerated rate of decline in thinking, learning and memory abilities, according to a report in the recent issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Although copper, zinc and iron are essential for brain development and function, an imbalance of these metals may play a role in the development of........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/14/2006 11:43:52 PM)

Microbe center plumbs depths of ocean life

Researchers from MIT and six other institutions are part of a new center for exploring the microbial inhabitants of the sea.

The Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) will facilitate collaborations among the previously separate disciplines of oceanography, microbiology, ecology and genomics. These new alliances will enable a deeper understanding of the seas, including their potential response to global........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 6:44:17 PM)

Cause Of Neurodegenerative Disease

When a faulty protein wreaks havoc in cells and causes disease, scientists are commonly quick to point the finger at a wayward gene. Now researchers are learning that some neurodegenerative diseases can develop even though a gene is perfectly normal. The diseases can be caused when the genetic instructions contained in the gene are not executed properly, leading to a lethal buildup of malformed proteins in brain cells.

The new studies by........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 6:21:56 PM)

Guidelines For Treatment Of Adult HIV Infection

With antiretroviral treatment for adults with HIV infection continuing to evolve, the International AIDS Society USA Panel has issued updated recommendations for the therapy of HIV, as per a report in the August 16 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

Scott M. Hammer, M.D., of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, presented the recommendations of the report today at a JAMA media briefing at the........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 5:50:25 PM)

RNA-Based Drug Kills Prostate Cancer Cells

Acting as a genetic Trojan horse, an experimental RNA-based drug -- the first of its kind -- tricks its way into prostate cancer cells and then springs into action to destroy them, while leaving normal cells unharmed.

The drug, developed at Duke University Medical Center, uses one type of genetic material, called targeting RNA, to enter cancer cells, and another type, called silencing RNA, to stop the expression of a protein that keeps the........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 8/13/2006 9:30:17 AM)

Routine Screening Not Always Beneficial

Doing more is not always better. Improving the quality of medical care does not necessarily dictate providing additional care. And in the case of children with Down syndrome, routine screening for celiac disease in children without symptoms of the disease, as recommended by at least one medical professional organization, does more harm than good as per a research studyby Indiana University School of Medicine scientists reported in the recent........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 9:12:50 AM)

Nurses Have A Larger Role In Smoking Cessation

Some good advice from nurses to patients who smoke significantly increases the likelihood of those smokers quitting, as per several articles in a special issue of the July-August 2006 Nursing Research journal.

"These reports are evidence that nurses are widely recognized as central to global efforts to reduce the detrimental health effects of tobacco use," said Dr. Molly C. Dougherty, Nursing Research editor and professor of nursing at the........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 8:47:07 AM)

Push For Breast Cancer Cure

Four men are testing their physical and mental as they skate board 8000 kilometers across Canada to raise awareness and raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Read the story of these brave men.

We're still out here! And we're really covering some ground. Shattering records left right and centre! We actually covered 125k each day three days running. WILD. Never imagined we'd be doing these distances. Really, we're skating so........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/22/2006 7:16:09 PM)

Cigarette smoke blocks cell repair mechanism

Cigarette smoke can turn normal breast cells cancerous by blocking their ability to repair themselves, eventually triggering tumor development, University of Florida scientists report.

While some cells nonetheless rally and are able to fix their damaged DNA, many others become unable to access their own cellular first aid kit, according to findings from a UF study published recently (Aug. 21) in the journal Oncogene. If they survive long........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/22/2006 7:04:04 PM)

Schizophrenics At Risk For Type 2 Diabetes

Dissecting the relationship between schizophrenia and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes has physician-researchers reaching across the Atlantic Ocean.

They are looking at newly diagnosed schizophrenics in an upper-middle-class Spanish community to find whether the disease that causes patients to hear voices and smell, feel and even taste unreal objects also increases their risk of diabetes.

Researchers know the drugs that best control........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/22/2006 5:11:22 AM)

Reversing Friedreich's Ataxia Defect

The results of the research are being published on August 20 in an advanced, online version of the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

In the new study, the researchers tested a variety of compounds that inhibited a class of enzymes known as histone deacetylases in a cell line derived from blood cells from a Fredreich's ataxia sufferer. One of these inhibitors had the effect of reactivating the frataxin gene, which is silenced in those with the........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/21/2006 10:18:13 PM)

Protein That Protect Breast Cancer Tumors

About half of women whose breast cancer is treated with standard chemotherapy have their cancer return within five years. Most chemotherapeutic drugs have undesirable side effects, but there has been no way to predict who would benefit and who wouldn't. Fortunately, new research findings at the University of Southern California could change that.

Scientists at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a new biological marker........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/21/2006 10:07:43 PM)

Cancer survivors may have suicidal thoughts

A survey of adult survivors of childhood cancers found that more than one out of eight reported having suicidal thoughts or previous attempts to take their lives many years after they were treated, say scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The suicidal symptoms were reported by more than 12 percent -- a greater proportion than had been expected -- of patients seen at a clinic providing care for adult cancer survivors, the researchers........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/20/2006 9:59:49 PM)

Exam nerves affects students' immune system

It is hardly surprising that one of the medical programmes most important exams is stressful for students. However, research now shows that this mental stress also affects the students immune defence systems, especially amongst those suffering from allergies.

While diseases like asthma and allergies are becoming increasingly common in the West, a number of people think that we are living ever stressful lives. A new study from Karolinska........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/20/2006 9:37:48 PM)

Regional Storage Facilities Could Handle Nuclear Waste

The Bush administration is eagerly pushing nuclear power as a way to help solve the U.S. energy crisis. But in its new plan for nuclear waste management, the administration is taking the wrong approach, says an MIT professor who studies the nuclear energy industry.

"My hope is that over time, the administration will rethink its priorities in this area," says Richard Lester, professor of nuclear engineering and director of the Industrial........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 8/20/2006 3:03:18 PM)

Image of the Month August 2006

Hlx knockout mouse embryo E17.5. The homeobox transcription factor Hlx is mandatory for normal embryonic growth and may play a role in development of the enteric nervous system. Enteric neurons were identified by immunostaining in Hlx knockout and wild-type mouse embryos and the migration of neurons throughout development was compared.

Taken from: Bates et al., BMC Developmental Biology 2006, 6:33.........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/19/2006 1:25:37 PM)

Lung Cancer Alliance Hails Court Decision

The Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) hailed yesterday's court decision in United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc. After a lengthy trial, a federal court in Washington, DC observed that major tobacco companies engaged in racketeering and conspiracy for decades in a massive scheme to addict people to smoking "without regard for the human tragedy or social costs" that resulted.

Laurie Fenton, president of Lung Cancer Alliance, hailed the court's........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/19/2006 7:24:15 AM)

Top Sprinter Lost In The Fog Has Cancer

Lost in the Fog, the 2005 Eclipse Award winner as sprinter of the year, has cancer in his spleen and abdomen, and his trainer said Friday that the 4-year-old colt will have to be put down soon.

The horse underwent an exploratory procedure Friday which determined the cancer in his spleen had spread, said veterinarian, Don Smith, in a conference call with trainer Greg Gilchrist.

"Unfortunately, we found two other tumors in his abdomen,"........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/19/2006 7:19:58 AM)

All Tobacco Bad For The Heart

A major Canadian-led global study has observed all forms of tobacco exposure, whether that be smoking, chewing or inhaling second hand smoke, increase the risk of heart attack.

The study by professors Salim Yusuf and Koon Teo of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, is published in this week's issue of The Lancet.

In collaboration with colleagues from 52 countries, they........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/17/2006 11:37:51 PM)

Cohabiters Are Traditional

Eventhough cohabitation outside of marriage is still considered to be an alternative lifestyle, working-class cohabiters are quite conventional when it comes to advancing their relationship, pursuing careers and doing housework, says Cornell sociologist Sharon Sassler.

Most of the 30 cohabiting working-class couples interviewed for the study still comply with traditional patterns throughout their relationships, including the initiation of........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/14/2006 11:48:11 PM)

West Nile Virus Antibody Binding Site

Scientists have learned the precise location where an antibody binds to the West Nile virus, and they have suggested a mechanism for how this antibody neutralizes the virus to prevent infection.

"Science doesn't yet fully understand exactly how neutralizing antibodies work," said Michael Rossmann, the Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences in Purdue's College of Science. "This work has shown precisely where the antibody binds........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/14/2006 11:40:48 PM)

Almost Half Of Kids With ADHD Not Treated

In contrast to claims that children are being overmedicated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that a high percentage of kids with ADHD are not receiving treatment. In fact, almost half of the children who might benefit from ADHD drugs were not getting them.

"What we found was somewhat surprising," says Richard D. Todd, M.D., Ph.D., the........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 6:41:11 PM)

Life and death in the hippocampus

Whether newborn nerve cells in adult brains live or die depends on whether they can muscle their way into networks occupied by mature neurons. Neuroresearchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies pin-pointed the molecular survival gear mandatory for a young neuron to successfully jump into the fray and hook up with other cells.

As per a research findings published in a forthcoming issue of Nature, scientists in the lab of Fred H.........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 6:27:14 PM)

Discovery Of Novel Genomic Disorders

Scientists at the University of Washington and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered several new genetic causes of mental retardation, as per a research studypublished online August 13 in Nature Genetics. One form of retardation, caused by a large deletion that spans six genes on chromosome 17, has characteristic facial, behavioral, and other physical features that can aid clinicians in identifying similar syndromes.

Working........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 5:37:04 PM)

Adult Cells To Embryonic Stem Cells

With the introduction of just four factors, researchers have successfully induced differentiated cells taken from mouse embryos or adult mice to behave like embryonic stem cells. The researchers reported their findings in an immediate early publication of the journal Cell.

The cells--which the researchers designate "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPS)--exhibit the physical, growth, and genetic characteristics typical of embryonic stem........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 9:43:49 AM)

Bisphosphonates In Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma

Research team headed by Mayo Clinic's has jointly issued a consensus statement regarding the use of bisphosphonates like Aredia to prevent or treat bone disease in MM. Their recommendations address several controversial issues, including the type of bisphosphonate to be used and the duration of such treatment, and are available in the recent issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

"It was imperative that we address the issue that has been under........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 8/13/2006 9:25:05 AM)

Success Of MRI-guided Breast Biopsy

Now radiologists are coming to the help of surgeons and pathology. They can use X-ray to confirm that MRI-guided breast biopsy has successfully removed the lesion.

"Contrast-enhanced MRI of the breast is becoming increasingly useful in patients with lesions that cannot be detected with other techniques," says Basak Erguvan-Dogan, MD, radiologist in Breast Imaging at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "However, it........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 8/13/2006 9:09:45 AM)

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