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 Back to Eurekalert Medical and Health News Archives
Eurekalert Medical and Health News: 10-29-2004
Employees in workplaces with no smoking restrictions smoke almost five more cigarettes daily than those whose workplaces completely ban smoking, says a study by the University of Toronto's Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (OTRU).
The popular DASH diet, established by the National Institutes of Health as a way to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, may have health benefits that go beyond its stated purpose of lowering people's risk of heart disease, according to research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Those fragrant soaps and shampoos we casually rinse down the drain may be causing long-term damage to aquatic wildlife downstream by interfering with the animals' natural ability to eliminate toxins from their system, according to a new Stanford University study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The University of Illinois at Chicago has received more than $8 million in grant funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for public health initiatives.
Scientists have uncovered a significant new link in the chain of immune system events through which estrogen prevents bone loss and that contribute to bone loss when estrogen is deficient. The findings could lead to new therapeutic approaches for preventing bone loss.
A controversial theory about how diabetes causes extensive tissue damage will appear in the November issue of Diabetes. At stake in the heated debate over the theory are researchers' efforts to find new ways to reduce loss of vision, kidney failure, heart damage and other side effects of diabetes.
Tufts Veterinary School scientists have helped decode the genome sequence of Cryptosporidium hominis, a highly infectious parasite causing common and fatal waterborne diseases in people throughout the world. With no preventive or therapeutic treatments available, C. hominis is a relentless public health concern the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified as a potential bioterrorist agent. The researchers' findings, reported in today's issue of Nature, are vital for developing effective vaccine and drug therapies.
In a finding that may one day help researchers better understand age-related memory and hearing loss, scientists have shown that two key nervous system proteins interact in a manner that helps regulate the transmission of signals in the nervous system.
VYTORIN (ezetimibe/simvastatin) provided greater reduction in LDL ("bad") cholesterol across doses versus Lipitor, according to a trial in 1,902 high cholesterol patients. At the most common starting doses, VYTORIN 10/20 mg decreased LDL by 51 percent compared with 36 percent for Lipitor 10 mg (p<0.001). In high-risk patients, LDL reductions at these doses resulted in significantly more patients (82 percent) achieving a goal of less than 100 mg/dL with VYTORIN versus Lipitor (47 percent) (p<0.001).
Acetaldehyde, one of the main chemical components of tobacco smoke, appears to increase the addictive properties of nicotine, according to animal studies conducted by the UC Irvine Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC). In addition, the researchers found that adolescents are most vulnerable to the rewarding effects of the nicotine-acetaldehyde combination.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has submitted detailed recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the agency's Draft Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan."Although IDSA applauds HHS's efforts on a thoughtful and scientifically based plan, we are proposing a number of recommendations that, if incorporated, could help to strengthen the U.S. and global response to an influenza pandemic," said Walter E. Stamm, MD, IDSA president.
In conjunction with the Institute for the Study of Aging, IOS Press announces the forthcoming publication of the Proceedings of an ISOA Catalyst Conference as a special print and online Supplement to the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (JAD).
Civilian deaths have risen dramatically in Iraq since the country was invaded in March 2003, according to a survey conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. The survey is the first country-wide attempt to calculate the number of civilian deaths in Iraq since the war began. It is published in the October 29, 2004, online edition of The Lancet.
New genetic evidence supports the controversial sodium-retention hypothesis - which links hypertension in certain ethnic groups to an inherited tendency to retain salt. Populations that live far from the equator are more likely to have a dysfunctional salt-retention protein, suggesting the 'broken' gene is protective at higher latitudes. This could redirect the study of inherited disease risks toward common genes that were beneficial in an environment of scarcity, but became harmful in a world of plenty.
The State Duma ratified the Kyoto Protocol on Friday, 22 October 2004 after less than two hours of debate, bringing the international treaty to limit greenhouse gases just a heartbeat away from coming into force worldwide.
Resveratrol exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in all systems examined: laboratory cells lines as well as human airway epithelial cells. Imperial College London study is novel as it examines the anti-inflammatory mechanism(s) of resveratrol in cells relevant to human disease and explores all proposed mechanisms of action.Resveratrol didn't act as either an estrogen or glucocorticosteroid, both of which hinder patient compliance.Developing an aerosol version seen as key for COPD, steroid-resistant asthma.
A little over a year ago, VIB, the D. Collen Research Foundation, and the K.U.Leuven invested in the acquisition of a new technology provided by the zebra fish. This small aquarium fish can be used to aid the study of the function of human genes. That this investment is reaping returns is evident from the study that VIB researchers at the K.U.Leuven are publishing today in the renowned journal Nature.
Doctors have found important new evidence to explain why mental function becomes less efficient with ageing. In the first study of its type in the world, a team at the University of Edinburgh found that worse mental function is linked with abnormally enlarged channels around blood vessels in the brain. The report, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, will help doctors to better understand the causes of dementia.
Blacks are more likely to be lifetime nonsmokers than whites, but they're less likely to quit smoking once they've started, according to a new study of more than 240,000 Americans.
A new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease protects brain cells in culture by drastically reducing the neurotoxic amyloid protein aggregates that are critical to the development of the disease. The treatment involves dispatching a small molecule into the cell to enlist the aid of a larger "chaperone" protein to block the accumulation of the brain-clogging protein.
Making email communication part of routine medical practice may have unforseen consequences for the NHS, warns a doctor in a letter to this week's BMJ.
Implementation of guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been mixed, according to a study in this week's BMJ.
Selling paracetamol and other painkillers in smaller pack sizes has slashed rates of suicide and damage to the liver from paracetamol poisoning, concludes a study on bmj.com this week.
A new UCLA and University of Utah study found how a hormone called hepcidin regulates the iron uptake from the diet and its distribution in the body. The study may help develop future treatments for chronic anemia and for diseases of iron overload, such as hemochromatosis.
Overactivity of an enzyme implicated in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia markedly impairs higher brain functions in animals.
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