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NIH Scientists Identify Novel Approach To View Inner Workings Of Viruses
Since the discovery of the microscope, scientists have tried to visualize smaller and smaller structures to provide insights into the inner workings of human cells, bacteria and viruses. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, have developed a new way to see structures within viruses that were not clearly seen before. Their findings are reported in the January 13 issue of Science.
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a technique that allows scientists to image very small particles, like structures on the surface of viruses. This method has been useful in helping researchers understand how vaccines work. But, despite the success of cryo-EM, scientists have been unable to clearly visualize structures inside of viruses, because radiation is used to image them. "With lower doses of radiation, it is not possible to see inside the organism," said lead author Dr. Alasdair Steven of the NIAMS Laboratory of Structural Biology Research. "However, higher doses of radiation damage the virus, destroying the very structures that we would like to view."
Effects of Tamiflu still uncertain, warn experts, as Roche continues to withhold key trial data
Two years after pharmaceutical giant Roche promised the BMJ it would release key Tamiflu trial data for independent scrutiny, the safety and effectiveness of this anti-influenza drug remains uncertain, warn experts today.
A new report by the Cochrane Collaboration says Roche’s refusal to provide full access to all its data leaves critical questions about how well the drug works unresolved.
A BMJ investigation, published to coincide with today’s report, also raises serious concerns about access to drug data, the use of ghost writers in drug trials, and the drug approval process.
Meanwhile, Tamiflu has become the mainstay of influenza treatment in the UK. It has also made it onto the World Health Organisation’s list of Essential Medicines and Roche’s claims continue to be supported by influential health agencies.
NIH Study Shows HIV-Exposed Children At High Risk Of Language Delay
NIH Study Shows HIV-Exposed Children At High Risk Of Language Delay
HIV exposed children could benefit from early diagnosis, classroom intervention
Children exposed to HIV before birth are at risk for language impairments, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Moreover, children exposed to HIV before birth may benefit from routine screening for language impairment, even if they don't have any obvious signs of a language problem, the researchers said.
The researchers found that 35 percent of a group of school-age children born to women with an HIV infection during pregnancy have difficulty understanding spoken words and expressing themselves verbally. On a standard series of tests of language ability, children exposed to HIV before birth scored, on average, within the lowest 21 percent of all children who have taken the test.
States Enact Record Number Of Abortion Restrictions in 2011
By almost any measure, issues related to reproductive health and rights at the state level received unprecedented attention in 2011. In the 50 states combined, legislators introduced more than 1,100 reproductive health and rights-related provisions, a sharp increase from the 950 introduced in 2010. By year’s end, 135 of these provisions had been enacted in 36 states, an increase from the 89 enacted in 2010 and the 77 enacted in 2009. (Note: This analysis refers to reproductive health and rights-related “provisions,” rather than bills or laws, since bills introduced and eventually enacted in the states contain multiple relevant provisions.)
Fully 68% of these new provisions—92 in 24 states—restrict access to abortion services, a striking increase from last year, when 26% of new provisions restricted abortion. The 92 new abortion restrictions enacted in 2011 shattered the previous record of 34 adopted in 2005.
NIH Study Shows 32 Million Americans Have Autoantibodies That Target Their Own Tissues
More than 32 million people in the United States have autoantibodies, which are proteins made by the immune system that target the body's tissues and define a condition known as autoimmunity, a study shows. The first nationally representative sample looking at the prevalence of the most common type of autoantibody, known as antinuclear antibodies (ANA), found that the frequency of ANA is highest among women, older individuals, and African-Americans. The study was conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers in Gainesville at the University of Florida also participated.
Preventive hemophilia A treatment reduces annual bleeding events and frequency of infusions
CHICAGO -- A Rush University Medical Center led international research team has announced that a treatment to prevent bleeding episodes in children with hemophilia A also is effective for adolescents and adults.
The preventive therapy will “optimize care for hemophilia patients of all ages by stopping unexpected bleeding events that can have a detrimental impact on the lives of patients,” said Dr. Leonard Valentino, director of the Rush Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center and principal investigator on the study. The study results appeared in the January online version of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Valentino is associate professor of Pediatrics at Rush University’s Rush Medical College.
Two or more prescription meds doubles fall rate for young and middle aged
CHICAGO -- A Rush University Medical Center led international research team has announced that a treatment to prevent bleeding episodes in children with hemophilia A also is effective for adolescents and adults.
The preventive therapy will “optimize care for hemophilia patients of all ages by stopping unexpected bleeding events that can have a detrimental impact on the lives of patients,” said Dr. Leonard Valentino, director of the Rush Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center and principal investigator on the study. The study results appeared in the January online version of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Valentino is associate professor of Pediatrics at Rush University’s Rush Medical College.
Promote Importance of Sleep, Public Safety
DARIEN, IL – Jan. 12, 2012 – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is in Washington to meet with federal agencies and lawmakers to forge relationships based on promoting the importance of sleep. AASM President Nancy Collop, MD, said the timing couldn’t be better.
“We have been planning this trip since fall, but with the recent rule changes on resting times for pilots and truck drivers, the mindset in Washington seems more open than ever to our concerns about adequate sleep and public safety,” Collop said. AASM is a professional membership society that is the leader in setting standards and promoting excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research.
Pedestrian injuries sustained while wearing headphones have tripled
The number of cases of serious injury sustained while walking along the street, wearing headphones for a handheld device, such as an iPod or MP3 player, has tripled in six years, shows US research published online in Injury Prevention.
Those affected are predominantly teens and young adults, the figures show.
The researchers mined data from the US National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Google news archives and a university research database, looking for information on injuries and deaths among pedestrians wearing headphones.
All cases arising in the US between January 2004 and June 2011 were included, and those involving mobile/cell phones, including hands-free devices, were excluded.
During the study period, there were a total of 116 cases, 16 of which occurred in 2004/5. By 2010-11, this figure had risen to 47.
Diabetic Mice Provide a Surprising Breakthrough for Multiple Sclerosis Research
Tel Aviv — In humans, active periods of the debilitating disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can last for mere minutes or extend to weeks at a time. They’re caused by lesions in the brain that develop, partly heal, and then recur. Research into a cure has been difficult, because to date scientists have not been able to replicate these brain recurring symptoms in laboratory mice. That’s frustrating because these lab animals, known as animal “models,” are the primary tool for research into the mechanisms and potential treatments for MS.
But now, by using a mouse model for diabetes instead, Dr. Dan Frenkel of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Neurobiology, working alongside Prof. Yaniv Assaf and Ph.D. student Hilit Levy, may provide a surprising breakthrough for research into a cure for MS. The team has discovered that when mice with Type 1 Diabetes are injected with myelin protein — the insulating material that coats neurons — they experience the periods of relapsing and remitting disability associated with brain lesions in humans. And for the first time, they’ve been able to monitor this brain lesion process using magnetic resonance imaging.
In India, Condoms Are Rarely Used During Premarital Sex
In India, most youth who are having premarital sex are not using condoms, according to “Condom Use Before Marriage and Its Correlates: Evidence from India,” a new study by K.G. Santhya, Rajib Acharya and Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, of the Population Council, New Delhi. The study, published in the December issue of International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, found that only 7% of young women and 27% of young men who reported having had premarital sexual relationships said they had ever used condoms. The analysis, which used survey data from 2,408 married and unmarried men and women aged 15–24 who had had premarital sex, found that just 3% of women and 13% of men surveyed reported having always used condoms in premarital relationships.
Discomfort about approaching a pharmacist or other provider for contraception was identified as an important obstacle to condom use for both sexes. According to the study, sexually experienced unmarried youth who felt uncomfortable obtaining contraceptives were much less likely to have used a condom than youth who felt no
Two or more prescription meds doubles fall rate for young and middle aged
Taking two or more prescription drugs at any one time seems to double the unintentional fall rate at home for the young and middle aged, similar to the effect seen in elderly people.
Drugs to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol were most commonly involved, the data showed.
The authors base their findings on a study looking at people of working age who died or required admission to hospital within 48 hours of an unintentional fall at home in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2005 and 2006.
In all, there were 344 such cases during the study period, and these were compared with 352 people randomly selected from the electoral register, matched for age and sex.
Taking prescription medicines emerged as a risk factor for injury associated with an unintentional fall.
BMJ: Doubt cast on Million Women Study, implicating HRT in breast cancer risk
Findings from the Million Women Study, which were used to establish that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) causes breast cancer, do not in fact, prove a causal link, concludes a review of the evidence published online in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.
The Million Women Study (MWS), which has produced four reports (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2011), and is the largest study of its kind on the topic, was one of three major pieces of research that prompted a rethink of the long term safety of HRT.
The MWS drew on new cases of breast cancer arising in women invited for breast screening in the UK between 1966 and 2001. The estimated risk levels it found for the disease were higher than those found in either of the other two studies---the collaborative reanalysis (CR) and the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).
Given its key role in influencing the regulatory authorities and public perception, the current authors assessed generally accepted causal criteria applied to scientific research, such as biases and biological implausibility, to review the findings of the MWS.
Cognitive decline can begin as early as age 45, warn experts
The brain’s capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension skills (cognitive function) can start to deteriorate from age 45, finds research published on bmj.com today.
Previous research suggests that cognitive decline does not begin before the age of 60, but this view is not universally accepted.
Researchers, led by Archana Singh-Manoux from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London in the UK, argue that “understanding cognitive ageing will be one of the challenges of this century,” especially as life expectancy continues to rise.
They add that it is important to investigate the age at which cognitive decline begins because medical interventions are more likely to work when individuals first start to experience mental impairment.
Therefore the authors observed 5,198 men and 2,192 women over a 10-year period from 1997. They were all civil servants aged between 45 and 70 and were part of the Whitehall II cohort study established in 1985.
India Records One Year Without Polio Cases
Critical need to maintain immunity to poliovirus in India until global eradication achieved
En Francais | In English
ATLANTA / EVANSTON, Ill. / GENEVA / NEW YORK / SEATTLE ¦ 12 January 2012 – India appears to have interrupted wild poliovirus transmission, today completing one year without polio since its last case, in a 2-year-old girl in the state of West Bengal, on 13 January 2011.
India was once recognized as the world’s epicentre of polio. If all pending laboratory investigations return negative, in the coming weeks India will officially be deemed to have stopped indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus. The number of polio-endemic countries, those which have never stopped indigenous wild poliovirus transmission, will then be reduced to a historical low of three: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
However, there remains no room for complacency. India must maintain sensitive surveillance and high childhood immunity against wild poliovirus to guard against any importation of polio until eradication is achieved globally. In 2011, Pakistan and Afghanistan have both seen alarming increases in polio cases, and poliovirus from Pakistan re-infected China (which had been polio-free since 1999). In Africa, active polio transmission continues in Nigeria, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with outbreaks in West and Central Africa in the past 12 months reminding the world that as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere.
Increase in motorway speed limit poses risks to health
Government plans to increase the motorway speed limit in England and Wales will have adverse effects on health, outweighing any economic benefits, claims an editorial published on bmj.com today.
The authors, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, criticise government proposals to raise the speed limit on all motorways in England and Wales from 70mph to 80mph by the year 2013.
The government argues that deaths on road in the United Kingdom have fallen by 75% in the past 55 years thanks to advances in car safety and see it fit to increase the speed limit as “almost half of all drivers break the current limit anyway”. They add, furthermore, that since 1967 the number of serious and fatal accidents has continued to fall and as such, the UK now has one of the lowest rates of road deaths in the world.
UK: Does anyone understand the government’s NHS reforms, asks senior professor?
Despite 25 years of experience researching health systems, including writing over 30 books and 500 academic papers, Professor Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says he still can’t understand the government’s plan for the NHS.
In a Personal View published on bmj.com today, he writes: “I have tried very hard, as have some of my cleverer colleagues, but no matter how hard we try, we always end up concluding that the bill means something quite different from what the secretary of state says it does.”
McKee notes that even Malcolm Grant, the incoming chairman of the National Commissioning Board, has described the bill as “completely unintelligible.”
Each year Professor McKee teaches a course on health systems. This year, he knows his students will expect him to explain the changes proposed by the Department of Health in England, but he says: “If I am to do so, I need to understand them first. Here lies the problem.”
Executive Board appoints the Regional Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region
GENEVA, 17 JANUARY 2012 -The World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board, currently holding its 130th session, has appointed Dr Ala Alwan as the new WHO Regional Director for WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO/EMRO), which is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Dr Alwan will take up his appointment for a five-year term starting on 1 February 2012. He is taking over from Dr Hussein Abdel-Razzak Al Gezairy.
EMRO comprises 22 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
"This is a region with considerable health, socio-economic and political challenges as well as diverse needs. But it is also a region with solid historical achievements and great promise," said Dr. Alwan in his acceptance speech. "I will focus on achieving the results that we, collectively, know are essential, especially in tackling the health challenges impacting the Region during the current economic and political climate."
NIH Scientists Find Cause of Rare Immune Disease
Investigators at the National Institutes of Health have identified a genetic mutation in three unrelated families that causes a rare immune disorder characterized by excessive and impaired immune function. Symptoms of this condition include immune deficiency, autoimmunity, inflammatory skin disorders and cold-induced hives, a condition known as cold urticaria.
The study was led by Joshua Milner, M.D., in the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Daniel Kastner, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). It will appear in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine on Jan. 11, 2012.
The mutation discovered occurs in a gene for phospholipase C-gamma2 (PLCG2), an enzyme involved in the activation of immune cells. The investigators have named the condition PLCG2-associated antibody deficiency and immune dysregulation, or PLAID.
NIH Partners With Industry To Create New Living Lab For Research Into Molecular Structures That Can Affect Disease
A new type of lab has been created to utilize near-atomic resolution microscopy and other structural biology technologies to help accelerate important medical discoveries relating to global health challenges, such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. The Living Lab Structural Biology Center was formed through a cooperative research and development agreement between the National Institutes of Health and FEI, Hillsboro, Ore., a scientific instruments company.
The lab, which will be located on the NIH campus, is a unique interdisciplinary collaboration among experts from FEI and scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), both part of the NIH, in the fields of cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and biochemistry. A Titan Krios transmission electron microscope, one of the world's most powerful commercially-available electron microscopes, will be located at NIH to enable the collaborative research.
NIBIB Welcomes Three New Members to the Advisory Council
Three new members have been appointed to the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NACBIB) of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).
The council comprises scientists, engineers, physicians, radiologists, researchers, and other health professionals who represent disciplines in and outside of biomedical imaging and bioengineering. NIBIB, a component of the National Institutes of Health, is dedicated to improving the fundamental understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease through biomedical technology research and training.
The NACBIB meets three times per year to advise on policy and program priorities related to the conduct and support of research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs that address biomedical imaging, biomedical engineering, and associated technologies and modalities with biomedical applications. The NACBIB also provides an additional level of review for all applications for funding of research and training grants or cooperative agreements by the NIBIB.
Robert H Baloh Leads Lou Gehrig's Disease Research
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 9, 2012) – Robert H. Baloh, MD, PhD, an expert in genetic defects and molecular mechanisms causing neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases, has joined Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to advance the study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease), muscular dystrophies, spinal muscular atrophies and other poorly understood disorders that start in nerve cells and electrical signaling.
In his medical practice and research, Baloh focuses on challenging cases involving the neuromuscular system. He will be director of the Neuromuscular Division, working with Patrick D. Lyden, MD, chair of the Department of Neurology, and Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Regenerative Medicine Institute. When Lyden and Svendsen joined Cedars-Sinai in 2009, they identified ALS as a top cli
nical and research priority because of their collective experience and because there is no treatment for the fatal disease. The addition of Baloh creates one of the most comprehensive teams in California.
Lubricant in Metal-On-Metal Hip Implants Found to Be Graphite, Not Proteins
Discovery May Lead to Hips That Function Better and Last Longer
CHICAGO - A team of engineers and physicians have made a surprising discovery that offers a target for designing new materials for hip implants that are less susceptible to the joint’s normal wear and tear.
Researchers from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and the University of Duisburg-Essen Germany found that graphitic carbon is a key element in a lubricating layer that forms on metal-on-metal hip implants. The lubricant is more similar to the lubrication of a combustion engine than that of a natural joint.
Treating HIV-infected People with Antiretrovirals Protects Partners from Infection
Findings Result from NIH-funded International Study
Men and women infected with HIV reduced the risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by taking oral antiretroviral medicines when their immune systems were relatively healthy, according to findings from a large-scale clinical study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The clinical trial, known as HPTN 052, was slated to end in 2015 but the findings are being released early as the result of a scheduled interim review of the study data by an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB). The DSMB concluded that it was clear that use of antiretrovirals by HIV-infected individuals with relatively healthier immune systems substantially reduced transmission to their partners. The results are the first from a major randomized clinical trial to indicate that treating an HIV-infected individual can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner.
UTSW research suggests new way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatment
DALLAS – Dec. 22, 2011 – A UT Southwestern Medical Center study using a sophisticated “glass mouse” research model has found that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is more likely caused in patients by speedy drug metabolism rather than inconsistent doses, as is widely believed.
If the study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases is borne out in future investigations, it may lead to better ways to treat one of the world’s major infectious diseases. Health workers worldwide currently are required to witness each administration of the combination of drugs during months of therapy.
“Tuberculosis is a common ailment, accounting for up to 3 percent of all deaths in many countries. Although effective therapy exists, there are still cases of treatment failure and drug resistance remains a threat,” said Dr. Tawanda Gumbo, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study.
The results seem to challenge the current approach endorsed by the World Health Organization. Under that method,
directly observed therapy-short-course strategy (DOTS), TB that responds to medication is treated with a cocktail of
drugs under the supervision of health care workers, who in many countries must travel to isolated villages – a costly
and time-consuming process.
Turn Down the iPod to Save Your Hearing
Using MP3 players at high volume puts teens at risk for early hearing loss, say TAU researchers
Today's ubiquitous MP3 players permit users to listen to crystal-clear tunes at high volume for hours on end — a
marked improvement on the days of the Walkman. But according to Tel Aviv University research, these advances
have also turned personal listening devices into a serious health hazard, with teenagers as the most at-risk group.
One in four teens is in danger of early hearing loss as a direct result of these listening habits, says Prof. Chava
Muchnik of TAU's Department of Communication Disorders in the Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions at t
he Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sheba Medical Center. With her colleagues Dr. Ricky Kaplan-Neeman,
Dr. Noam Amir, and Ester Shabtai, Prof. Muchnik studied teens' music listening habits and took acoustic
measurements of preferred listening levels.
A "Fantastic Voyage" Through the Body -- with Precision Control
TAU researcher develops capsule endoscope controlled by MRI to investigate digestive system
A prototype of the "capsule" being tested at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston.
Tel Aviv - December 2011 - Endoscopes — small cameras or optic fibres that are usually attached to flexible tubing
designed to investigate the interior of the body — can be dangerously invasive. Procedures often require sedative
medications and some recovery time. Now a researcher at Tel Aviv University is developing a "capsule endoscope"
that can move through the digestive tract to detect problems independent of any attachments.
According to Dr. Gabor Kosa of TAU's School of Mechanical Engineering, the project is inspired by an endoscopic capsule designed for use in the small intestine. But unlike the existing capsule, which travels at random and snaps pictures every half second to give doctors an overall view of the intestines, the new "wireless" capsules will use the magnetic field of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and electronic signals manipulated by those operating the capsule to forge a more precise and deliberate path.
Blood protein EPO involved in origin and spread of cancer
Sweden - 5 December 2011- Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated that a growth hormone, PDGF-BB, and the blood protein EPO are involved in the development of cancer tumours and that they combine to help the tumours proliferate in the body. These new preclinical findings offer new potential for inhibiting tumour growth and bypassing problems of resistance that exist with many drugs in current use. The results are published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, and is one of the most important research fields in the treatment of such diverse conditions as cancer, metastases, obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic inflammation. The process is also important in healthy individuals for wound healing, the menstrual cycle and other normal processes. Professor Yihai Cao and his team are researching into angiogenesis and its links to cancer and other diseases, and in the present study show the significant role played by a growth factor, PDGF-BB.
"It's a member of the PDGF family and significantly contributes to blood vessel development, which is one of the characteristic signs of cancer, says Professor Yihai Cao. Our preclinical findings suggest
that PDGF-BB causes systemic effects in the body, which is to say that rather than being active locally it goes into the blood and interferes with the function of several organs so that the entire body is affected."
Outside temperatures, sun exposure and gender may trigger glaucoma
Study published in January 2012 issue of Ophthalmology
BOSTON (Jan. 1, 2012) – When it comes to whether or not you will develop exfoliation syndrome (ES) -- an eye condition that is a leading cause of secondary open-angle glaucoma and increased risk of cataract as well as cataract surgery complications -- age, gender and where you live does matter.
"Although many studies from around the world have reported on the burden of the disease, some aspects of the basic descriptive epidemiologic features, which may help shed light on the cause, are inconsistent," said Louis Pasquale, M.D., study co-author and director of Massachusetts Eye and Ear's Glaucoma Center of Excellence. "In this study we found that women are more vulnerable to this disease then men, that ES is not a disease of Norwegian descent, and that where you live does matter when it comes to developing the disease."
Researchers from the Mass. Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass., Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., set out to find out how demographic and geographic risk factors are associated with ES. Their study, the "Demographic and Geographic Features of Exfoliation Glaucoma in two United States-Based Prospective Cohorts" are published in the January 2012 issue of Ophthalmology.
Poor sleep linked to increased health and behavior problems in young diabetics
Lighter sleep and breathing problems lead to trouble controlling blood sugar, despite adherence to diabetic health guidelines
DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that young diabetics may be struggling to get a good night's sleep, resulting in worse control of their blood sugar, poorer school performance and misbehavior.
"Despite adhering to recommendations for good diabetic health, many youth with Type 1 diabetes have difficulty maintaining control of their blood sugars," said Michelle Perfect, PhD, the principal investigator in the study. "We found that it could be due to abnormalities in sleep, such as daytime sleepiness, lighter sleep and sleep apnea. All of these make it more difficult to have good blood sugar control."
No higher risk of acute leukaemia in close relatives
Sweden - 15 December 2011] Parents, siblings and children of patients with the most common form of acute leukemia do not run a higher risk of developing the disease as was once believed, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.
Every year, some 400 people in Sweden are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common form of acute leukemia. Just like for other forms of the disease, the causes of AML are largely unknown and are probably a combination of hereditary and environmental factors. According to earlier studies, first-degree relatives (parents, siblings and children) of patients with AML run three times the normal risk of developing the disease.
However, a joint study conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the USA's National Institutes of Health (NIH) has now shown that this is not the case.
The teams studied over 20,000 first-degree relatives of AML patients and compared the results with over 90,000 relatives of a control group and found no higher risk for AML or other blood tumour diseases with the exception of polycythemia vera, a disorder leading to the over-production of red blood cells.
