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Heavy DE exposure may increase risk of dying from lung cancer

Heavy diesel exhaust (DE) exposure in humans may increase the risk of dying from lung cancer, according to two papers released March 2nd by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Mar 2012

Rigosertib drug shows promise against advanced pancreatic cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates that 44,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed this year and that 37,000 people will die from the disease. These are not strong odds. A new drug, rigosertib, allows pancreatic cancer cells to rush through replication - and then stops them cold, killing them in in the middle of a step called M phase. Healthy cells that don't rush are unharmed.

3 Mar 2012

R-loop formation may drive under-methylation and autoimmunity

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have figured out how the human body keeps essential genes switched "on" and silences the vast stretches of genetic repeats and "junk" DNA.

3 Mar 2012

Ion channels assembled in different combinations distinguish temperatures

The winter sun feels welcome, but not so a summer sunburn. Research over the past 20 years has shown that proteins on the surface of nerve cells enable the body to sense several different temperatures. Now scientists have discovered how just a few of these proteins, called ion channels, distinguish perhaps dozens of discrete temperatures, from mildly warm to very hot.

3 Mar 2012

Epicatechin-enriched cocoa shows promise against heart failure, Type 2 diabetes

A small clinical trial led by researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) found that patients with advanced heart failure and type 2 diabetes showed improved mitochondrial structure after three months of treatment with epicatechin-enriched cocoa. Epicatechin is a flavonoid found in dark chocolate.

3 Mar 2012

Survivors of cancer in childhood have higher risk of infertility in later life

Survivors of cancer in childhood have a higher risk of infertility in later life. This is the conclusion reached by Magdalena Balcerek and her co-authors in a study published in Deutsches -rzteblatt International.

3 Mar 2012

AARDA hopes to educate public on autoimmune diseases during March

March is National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month, and the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) is working to educate the public on risk factors, prevalence, and the severe lack of awareness surrounding autoimmune diseases.

3 Mar 2012

WUSTL scientists to decode DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases

Rare genetic diseases, long overlooked because they affect relatively few people, are getting new attention. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reaching out to patient advocacy groups and offering to decode the DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases to help find the genetic alterations responsible for their illnesses.

3 Mar 2012

Early surgical intervention stops seizures and improves quality of life

While the thought of any type of surgery can be disconcerting, the thought of brain surgery can be downright frightening. But for people with a particular form of epilepsy, surgical intervention can literally be life-restoring.

3 Mar 2012

Union County Commission honors KF scientist with Women of Excellence Award

Helen Genova, PhD, research scientist at Kessler Foundation, received a Women of Excellence Award in Health Sciences from the Union County Commission on the Status of Women. In the Foundation's Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Laboratory, she investigates the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) and traumatic brain injury on cognitive function with grant funding.

3 Mar 2012

Negative effects of environmental toxicants can pass across generations

A Washington State University researcher has demonstrated that a variety of environmental toxicants can have negative effects on not just an exposed animal but the next three generations of its offspring.

3 Mar 2012

Polymer-based medical implants can produce harmful free radicals

A polymer is a mesh of chains, which slowly break over time due to the pressure from ordinary wear and tear. When a polymer is squeezed, the pressure breaks chemical bonds and produces free radicals: ions with unpaired electrons, full of untapped energy. These molecules are responsible for aging, DNA damage and cancer in the human body.

3 Mar 2012

REST molecule acts as an adapter in stem cells, times neuronal development

Upon fertilisation, a single cell is formed when egg and sperm fuse. Our entire body, with more than 200 specialised cell types and billions of cells are formed from this single cell. It is a scientific mystery how the early stem cells know what cell type to become, but a precise timing of the process is crucial for correct development and function of our body.

3 Mar 2012

Abstinence therapy safer, preferable for opioid-addicted HCPs

Many health care professionals (HCPs) have easy access to controlled medications and the diversion and abuse of drugs among this group may be as high as 10%. Controversy surrounds the safety of allowing addicted HCPs to return to clinical practice while undergoing medical treatment with opioid substitution therapy such as buprenorphine.

3 Mar 2012

Emotional inhibition and alexithymia are distinct phenomena: Study

In the early 80s Robert Kellner developed the Emotional Inhibition Scale (EIS), a self-rating scale for emotional inhibition based on clinimetric principles. This study explores whether the EIS differentiated a sample of cardiac recipients from normal controls, as well as the associations between the EIS and 2 measures of alexithymia, i.e. the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research.

3 Mar 2012

Older women face increased risk of late stage breast cancer diagnosis

Older women with breast cancer face a higher risk of being diagnosed with the disease at a late stage, while the risk of an advanced stage diagnosis of lung cancer decreases with age, a new study shows today.

3 Mar 2012

Scientists to develop new carbon-based biointerfaces

In the future, neural implants could replace destroyed sensory cells in the eye or ear - a dream come true for humanity. One of the greatest challenges yet to be addressed is designing the interface between medical technology and human tissue. In order to overcome the limitations of existing models, scientists from Forschungszentrum Juelich and eleven other institutions involved in the NeuroCare project, which kicked off on 1 March 2012, will develop novel biointerfaces made of carbon.

3 Mar 2012

Maintaining healthy lifestyle from young adulthood linked with low CVD risk in middle age

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle from young adulthood into your 40s is strongly associated with low cardiovascular disease risk in middle age, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

3 Mar 2012

Long-term data from Baxter's HyQ clinical study on PI

Baxter International Inc. today announced the presentation of additional long-term data supporting the clinical profile of HyQ, its investigational combination product for use in patients with primary immunodeficiencies.

From Baxter International Inc. 3 Mar 2012

CLR01 blocks toxic aggregations of proteins in mouse model of Parkinson's

Millions of people suffer from Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and worsens over time. As the world's population ages, it's estimated that the number of people with the disease will rise sharply. Yet despite several effective therapies that treat Parkinson's symptoms, nothing slows its progression.

2 Mar 2012