August 24, 2006, 9:24 PM CT

Key Player In Immune System Regulation

Studies led by Dartmouth Medical School scientists have revealed a crucial link in how the immune system works. As per a research findings published online on August 20 in the journal Nature, the scientists observed that mast cells, known for their role in allergy reactions such as watery eyes and runny noses, are connected to the activity of regulatory T cells, which suppress immune responses. The scientists say theirs is the first study to find that mast cells mediate immune system suppression.

"Our finding is a complete surprise. We were studying transplant tolerance and what's mandatory to protect a graft from rejection," says Randolph Noelle, professor of microbiology and immunology at Dartmouth Medical School. "When we went looking to see what genes were responsible in a successful graft, we found high levels of mast cell gene products, which made the correlation between regulatory T cells and mast cell recruitment. The fact that mast cells may be instrumental in orchestrating regulatory T cell tolerance was new, unanticipated, and surprising".

In their study, the scientists determined that mast cells are crucial for sustaining immune suppression in transplanted skin on mice, which means longer acceptance or tolerance of the transplant. Mice that were mast cell deficient rejected the skin graft. Furthermore, the scientists observed that IL-9, a protein already known for playing a role in mast cell activation and recruitment, was discovered to be produced by regulatory T cells. As such, the other key discovery in this study was that Il-9 appears to be an essential ingredient in the success of transplanted skin.........

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August 24, 2006, 3:11 PM CT

Now You Can Be More Active

Do you think that because you are big you can barely do any activity at all?

Do you think you cannot exercise, play sports, or become fit?

It's true that very large people face special challenges in trying to be active. We have to agree that you may not be able to bend or move in the same way that other people can. Sometimes you might find it hard to find clothes and equipment for exercising. It is also possible that you may feel self-conscious being physically active around other people.

Facing and solving these challenges is hard but it can be done!........

Posted by: Emily      Permalink

August 24, 2006, 4:40 AM CT

Critical Step in DNA Mutation

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have made an important step toward solving a critical puzzle relating to a chemical reaction that leads to DNA mutation, which underlies many forms of cancer. The research, which uncovers knowledge that could be critical to the development of strategies for cancer prevention and treatment, appears in the August 2006 edition (Volume 128, issue 33) of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The process that gives rise to mutations in DNA, or mutagenesis, is a complex one involving a series of chemical reactions, which are not completely understood. A free radical, a stable neutral atom or a chemical group containing at least one unpaired electron, can scavenge an electron from DNA in a process known as oxidation, creating a hole in place of the scavenged electron. Such oxidation events can be caused by natural processes occurring in the body, or by ionizing radiation. It's well known that the ionization hole can travel long distances of up to 20 nanometers along the base pairs that form the rungs of the DNA ladder (discussed by Landman, Schuster and their collaborators in a 2001 Science article, volume 294, page 567). It is also well known that the hole tends to settle longer at spots in the DNA where two guanines (G) are located next to each other.........

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August 22, 2006, 8:09 PM CT

Self-inflicting injuries in teens

In a survey of more than 6,000 15 and 16-year-old school pupils, researchers found that girls are four times more likely to have engaged in deliberate self-harm compared to boys, with 11 per cent of girls and 3 per cent of boys reporting that they had self-harmed within the last year.

Previous estimates for the amount self-harm in the country were based on the 25,000 'presentations' at hospitals in England and Wales each year that are the result of deliberate self-poisoning or self-injury amongst teenagers.

However, research by academics from the universities of Bath and Oxford has found that only 13 per cent of self-harming incidents reported by the pupils had resulted in a hospital visit.

Although self-poisoning is the most common form of self-harm reported in hospitals, the study revealed that self-cutting was the more prevalent form of self-harm (64.5 per cent), followed by self-poisoning through overdose (31 per cent).

"The study shows that deliberate self-harm is common amongst teenagers in England, especially in girls who are four times more likely to self-harm than boys," said Dr Karen Rodham from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath.

"Until now, most studies of deliberate self-harm in adolescents in the UK have been based on the cases that reach hospital.........

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August 22, 2006, 6:55 PM CT

No More Than One Strokes

Having a stroke is bad enough. But having another one after surviving the first one is particularly bad, more than doubling a person's risk of dying in the next two years, a new study finds.

The risk of a second stroke is particularly high among members of the largest and fastest-growing subgroup of Latinos in the United States: Mexican-Americans. The new study finds that they are more likely than their non-Latino white neighbors to suffer another stroke in the first two years after living through one.

The study, reported in the Annals of Neurology by a team from the University of Michigan Stroke Program in conjunction with colleagues in Texas, highlights the importance of what doctors call 'secondary prevention.'.

In other words, those who live through a stroke should get special attention from their physicians and other health professionals to reduce their risk of having another one. And, because of their extra risk of suffering another stroke, those efforts should be particularly stepped up in Mexican-Americans, the scientists say.

"This finding completes a picture that has been taking shape through research on ethnic differences in stroke," says lead author Lynda Lisabeth, Ph.D. "We know that Mexican-Americans have a higher overall risk of stroke, tend to have strokes starting at younger ages, and generally have a better chance of surviving their first stroke, compared with non-Hispanic whites. Now, by finding this higher rate of recurrence, we have a better idea of the overall burden of stroke in this population".........

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August 22, 2006, 4:57 AM CT

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 research for Forsyth. It represents a breakthrough in the application of basic science into a craniofacial disorder affecting millions of Americans." Dr. Xu's current research focuses on the underlying causes including genetic factors, of osteoarthritis in the jaw joints. Arthritis is widely considered a co-morbid condition of temporomandibular muscle (jaw) joint disorders/disease (TMJ/TMJD) the same painful and disabling condition that affects other joints in the body.

Dr. Xu's experience and breadth of scientific inquiry fits well within the fellowship mission to explore growth and development of healthy jaw joints in children as they develop pre- and post- natally. Subsequently, the investigation will explore the disorders/diseases of the temporomandibular joints and overlapping or co-morbid health disorders, through genetic and molecular science.........

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August 21, 2006, 9:57 PM CT

Cost Of Treating Chest Pain In The Average Woman

Treating chest pain linked to coronary artery disease (CAD) could cost a woman more than $1 million during her lifetime; and even the chest pain linked to mild artery blockage (nonobstructive CAD) could reach $750,000 for an average woman, as per a research studypublished in Circulation.

Chest pain symptoms may be the most important driver of women's cardiovascular healthcare costs, said lead study author Leslee J. Shaw, Ph.D.

"Lifetime healthcare costs can reach $1 million for each woman with heart disease in this country," she said. "The societal burden for coronary artery disease for women with chest pain is expensive and could be responsible for a sizeable portion of U.S. healthcare costs".

Scientists investigated the economic burden of cardiac symptoms on women. Shaw and researchers from the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study evaluated data on 883 women who had been referred for coronary angiography and compared data on their health, finances and quality of life for at least five years. Coronary angiography is a specialized X-ray examination of the coronary arteries and is one of the most frequently preformed procedures in women.

Scientists observed that 62 percent of women studied had nonobstructive coronary artery disease defined as blockage less than 50 percent of the artery. Seventeen percent had one coronary artery vessel blocked or narrowed, 11 percent had two vessels narrowed and 10 percent had three vessels affected.........

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August 21, 2006, 9:22 PM CT

Many Teens Injured On The Job

A new survey of 6,810 teens showed that more than half of them work, and 514 of them had been injured on the job.

"The findings from this study clearly indicate that work-related injuries among youth are a significant health problem," report Kristina M. Zierold, Ph.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Henry A. Anderson, M.D., chief medical officer of the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.

Writing in the American Journal of Health Behavior, the authors report that 150 of the teens were injured severely enough that activities at home, work, or school were affected for more than three days, and 97 filed for workers' compensation.

The study, funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, was conducted in Wisconsin while Zierold was an epidemic intelligence service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Developing programs and strategies to reduce injury must be made a priority," Zierold said.

But training on the job where safety could be stressed often is given by another employee. "This type of training usually consists of explaining how to do the work and how to work the equipment, without emphasis on safety issues," Zierold said. "In other instances, no training is given at all".........

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August 20, 2006, 2:22 PM CT

Immune cells protect retina from damage

Eventhough some recent studies have suggested that inflammation promotes retinal damage in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), new work from Washington University ophthalmology scientists has observed that a particular type of inflammation, regulated by cells called macrophages, actually protects the eye from damage due to AMD.

The scientists report in the Aug. 15 issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine that in a mouse model of AMD, macrophages help prevent the formation of blood vessels that grow underneath the retina and cause the majority of severe vision loss linked to AMD.

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States in people over the age of 50. It accounts for more than 40 percent of blindness among the institutionalized elderly, and as baby boomers get older, the problem is expected to grow, with at least 8 million cases of AMD predicted by the year 2020.

There are two varieties of AMD: a "dry" form and a "wet" form. Most patients have the dry form of the disease, and eventhough this can progress and cause severe vision loss in some, between 80 and 90 percent of the blindness and severe vision loss occurs in the wet form of the disease, as per the paper's first author Rajendra S. Apte, M.D., Ph.D.........

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August 19, 2006, 9:25 PM CT

New Treatment For Dangerous Staph Infections

Duke University Medical Center scientists have demonstrated in an international clinical trial the effectiveness and safety of a new drug for treating bloodstream and heart infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a major cause of sickness and death worldwide.

Based on the trial, the Food and Drug Administration already has approved the drug -- daptomycin -- for treating heart infections and bacteremia, also known as bloodstream infection or blood poisoning, caused by S. aureus, as per Vance G. Fowler Jr., M.D., an associate professor of infectious diseases who took part in the study.

"This is the first new drug the FDA has approved in two decades for treating these types of potentially life-threatening infections," Fowler said. "This advance adds a new weapon to our dwindling arsenal of antibiotics against these difficult-to-treat infections".

Daptomycin had been approved by the FDA in 2003 for treating skin infections caused by S. aureus. But until now, Fowler said, no one knew definitively whether the drug would be effective against the more serious bloodstream and heart infections.

The scientists published their findings in the August 17, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures daptomycin, funded the study.........

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