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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.
Van Andel Research Institute Findings Provide More Complete Picture of Kidney Cancer
Two recent studies distinguish cancer subtypes and provide promising new drug targets
Grand Rapids, Mich. (December 29, 2011) – Two recent studies by Van Andel Research Institute scientists are providing a foundation for a more complete understanding of distinct kidney cancer subtypes, which could pave the way for better treatments.
In a study published in Cancer Cell led by Kyle Furge, Ph.D. and Aikseng Ooi, Ph.D., researchers provide a more complete understanding of the biology of Type 2 papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC2), an aggressive type of kidney cancer with no effective treatment, which lays the foundation for the development of effective treatment strategies.
Despite obvious morphological, genetic, and clinical differences, hereditary PRCC2 is thought to share similar pathway deregulation due to genetic mutation with its counterpart, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), a subtype that accounts for 75% of all kidney cancers and that, unlike PRCC2, responds favorably to drugs targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a signal protein produced by cells that stimulate blood vessel formation.
Antioxidant-rich diet may reduce stroke risk in women
Sweden - 2 December 2011 - Women who ate an antioxidant-rich diet containing fruits, vegetables and grains had fewer strokes regardless of whether they had a previous history of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The findings are reported in Stroke, scientific journal of the American Heart Association.
Susanne Rautiainen Photo: IMM
"Eating antioxidant-rich foods may reduce your risk of stroke by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation," says Susanne Rautiainen, a doctoral student at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and first author of the current study. "This means people should eat more foods such as fruits and vegetables that contribute to total antioxidant capacity."
An unexpected player in a cancer defense system
Sweden - 28 November 2011 - Researchers of Karolinska Institutet and the University of Cologne, Germany, have identified a new protein involved in a defense mechanism against cancer. The VCP/p97 complex is best known for its role in protein destruction and is involved in a type of familial dementia and ALS. In a novel study the researchers now describe how this complex also plays an important role in regulating the recruitment of the tumor suppressor protein 53BP1 to damaged DNA - suggesting an important role for VCP/p97 in our body's defense against cancer.
Damage of DNA is potentially very dangerous and linked to the development of cancer. Since DNA damage is unavoidable, our cells are equipped with a sophisticated defense system that activates repair mechanisms. This process is initiated by binding of sensor proteins to the damaged DNA that in turn bind and activate other proteins responsible for repairing the damage. During the last decade, it has become clear how many of those proteins are recruited to the damaged DNA, but the mechanism by which the tumor suppressor 53BP1 finds its way has been puzzling.
Breast Cancer Survivors Benefit From Practicing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MU Researchers Find
Survivors’ psychological and physiological health improved after training
COLUMBIA, Mo. –Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society. However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed. Now, University of Missouri researchers in the Sinclair School of Nursing say a meditation technique can help breast cancer survivors improve their emotional and physical well-being.
Yaowarat Matchim, a former nursing doctoral student; Jane Armer, professor of nursing; and Bob Stewart, professor emeritus of education and adjunct faculty in nursing, found that breast cancer survivors’ health improved after they learned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a type of mindfulness training that incorporates meditation, yoga and physical awareness.
Gene identified in increasing pancreatic cancer risk
PHILADELPHIA — Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years. Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.
"There was significant reason to believe this clustering was due to genetics, but we had not, to this point, been able to find the causative genes that explained the cluster of pancreatic cancer for a majority of these families," said lead author Alison Klein, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and director of the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry.
Diet, nutrient levels linked to cognitive ability, brain shrinkage
CORVALLIS, Ore. – New research has found that elderly people with higher levels of several vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in their blood had better performance on mental acuity tests and less of the brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer's disease – while "junk food" diets produced just the opposite result.
The study was among the first of its type to specifically measure a wide range of blood nutrient levels instead of basing findings on less precise data such as food questionnaires, and found positive effects of high levels of vitamins B, C, D, E and the healthy oils most commonly found in fish.
The research was done by scientists from the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Ore., and the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. It was published today in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
FDA expands use of Prevnar 13 vaccine for people ages 50 and older
Prevnar 13, a pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine, was approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for people ages 50 years and older to prevent pneumonia and invasive disease caused by the bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Pneumococcal pneumonia, caused when the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae infects the lungs, is the most common disease caused by this bacterium in adults. When the bacterium invades parts of the body that are normally free from germs, such as the blood or spinal fluid, the disease is considered “invasive.”
Study finds most paramedics are victims of abuse in the workplace
More than two-thirds of paramedics surveyed have experienced verbal, physical or sexual abuse on the job
TORONTO, Ont., Dec. 29, 2011 –More than two-thirds of paramedics surveyed have experienced verbal, physical or sexual abuse on the job, new research has found.
Verbal abuse by patients and their friends or relatives, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) co-workers or bystanders, was the most commonly reported, followed by intimidation and physical abuse, the study found.
"EMS providers can experience violence in the workplace as they perform their jobs in unpredictable environments and near people in crisis," said Blair Bigham, the lead investigator.
"Anecdotal reports and workplace safety records have highlighted cases of verbal, physical and sexual abuse, yet until now, there has been little scientific research. More research is needed to understand the impact of this workplace violence."
Bigham is an advanced care flight paramedic for York Region EMS and Ornge, and an associate scientist at Rescu, based at S. Michael's Hospital. Rescu is part of the Resuscitations Outcomes Consortium, a large, multinational research collaboration of 10 sites across the United States and Canada, studying how promising new tools and treatments can improve survival rates among people who suffer cardiac arrest or life-threatening traumatic injury outside of hospitals.
UNICEF responds to urgent needs in flood-affected Philippines
NEW YORK (December 20, 2011) —UNICEF is delivering water and sanitation supplies today to assist 15,000 families affected by the devastating floods in southern Philippines.
The agency also launched an appeal today for $4.2 m illion to assist families affected by Tropical Storm Washi that unleashed devastating flash floods on the southern island of Mindanao. The appeal will support UNICEF’s response in the areas of water and sanitation, health and nutrition, education and child protection.
The tropical storm swept through the southern island during the night of December 16, dropping the equivalent of one month’s rainfall in just one day. The resulting flash floods, which rose very quickly during the night, killed at least 957 people, with at least 49 still missing.
Panel Endorses Active monitoring And Delay Of Treatment For Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
Urges further research to clarify management strategies
An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression. However, monitoring strategies-such as active surveillance-have not been uniformly studied and available data do not yet point to clear follow-up protocols. The panel recommended standardizing definitions and conducting additional studies to clarify which monitoring strategies are most likely to optimize patient outcomes.
Heart health risk of prostate cancer treatment being ignored, warn specialists
[Cardiovascular risk in androgen suppression: underappreciated, under-researched, and unresolved Online First 2011; doi 10.1136/heartjnl-2011-300893]
Heart disease and stroke are emerging complications of treating prostate cancer with drugs to suppress testosterone production, yet standard management of the disease is ignoring this risk, warn specialists in a viewpoint published online in Health
New study supports claim that breast screening may be causing more harm
than good
Research: Possible net harms of breast cancer screening: updated modelling of Forrest report
A new study published on bmj.com today supports the claim that the introduction of breast cancer screening in the UK may have caused more harm than good.
Harms included false positives (abnormal results that turn out to be normal) and overtreatment (treatment of harmless cancers that would never have caused symptoms or death during a patient’s lifetime). This may be because the cancer grows so slowly that the patient dies of other causes before it produces symptoms, or the cancer remains dormant or regresses.
Childhood Hypersensitivity Linked to OCD
Adult onset could be connected to oral and tactile sensitivities in childhood, Tel Aviv University research finds
Tel Aviv — In childhood, rituals like regular schedules for meal, bath, and bed times are a healthy part of behavioral development. But combined with oral and tactile sensitivities, such as discomfort at the dentist or irritation caused by specific fabrics, these rituals could be an early warning sign of adult Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
According to Prof. Reuven Dar of Tel Aviv University's
Department of Psychology, hypersensitivity and excessive adherence to childhood rituals may foreshadow the onset of OCD as the child ages. He first suspected the link while working with OCD patients who reported sensitivity to touch and taste as children. Now, in the first comprehensive study of its kind, Prof. Dar and his fellow researchers have established a direct correlation between sensory processing — the way the nervous system manages incoming sensory information — and ritualistic and obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Reclaiming the Land After a Forest Fire
TAU researchers use organic polymer to protect scorched soil from erosion
Wildfires cause tragic losses to life, property, and the environment. But even after the fire rages, the damage is far from done. Without vegetation, bare, burnt soil lies vulnerable to erosion, which can impede efforts towards natural forest regeneration.
Now Assaf Inbar, a graduate student at Tel Aviv University's
Porter School of Environmental Studies, together with his supervisors Prof. Marcelo Sternberg of the Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants, Dr.Meni Ben-Hur of the Volcani Center and Dr. Marcos Lado of the University of La Coruña, Spain, have studied a new soil protection procedure that may significantly reduce erosion in areas ravaged by forest fires. Working with an organic polymer originally used in agriculture, Inbar and his supervisors have tested their method in the lab and also in Birya forest in Israel, large parts of which have been burnt by fire
Are the Anxious Oblivious?
TAU study finds anxiety-ridden individuals are less sensitive to their environments
Tel Aviv - December 2011 - Anxious people have long been classified as "hypersensitive" — they're thought to be more fearful and feel threatened more easily than their counterparts. But new research from Tel Aviv University shows that the anxious may not be hypersensitive at all — in fact, they may not be sensitive enough.
As part of a study on how the brain processes fear in anxious and non-anxious individuals, Tahl Frenkel, a Ph.D. candidate in TAU's School of Psychological Sciences and the Adler Center for Research in Child Developmental and Psychopathology, working with her supervisor Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, measured brain activity as study participants were shown images designed to induce fear and anxiety. Using an EEG to measure electrical activity caused by the neuronal activity that represents deep processing of these stimuli, the researchers discovered that the anxious group was actually less stimulated by the images than the non-anxious group.
New report highlights need for action on health in the aftermath of war
Issue of noncommunicable diseases in post-conflict countries must be addressed
Countries recovering from war are at risk of being left to their own devices in tackling non communicable diseases, leaving an "open door" for exploitation by alcohol, tobacco and food companies, health experts warn.
Writing in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Bayard Roberts and Martin McKee, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Preeti Patel, of King's College London, argue that the post-conflict environment risks increases of mental health problems and other NCDs, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.
After exposure to violent and traumatic events, people may be prone to developing harmful health behaviours, such as excessive drinking and smoking, which exacerbate the problem of NCDs in the long-term. This is why the lack of a strong will from the authorities to restore the health system leaves an open door for commercial ventures to influence health policy to their advantage.
