ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Obese people regain weight after dieting due to hormones
• Scientists chart gene expression in the brain across lifespan
• How biological capsules respond under stress
• Manual wheelchair use, exercise and calorie burning examined
• New approach to study depression: Finding may lead to new marker for risk
• Cancer survivorship research must look at quality of life, experts urge
• Folate receptors may serve as a front door to ovarian cancer treatment
• Deadly parasite juggles the number of its chromosomes
• More power to the cranberry: Study shows juice better than extracts at fighting infections
• Fertility chip measures concentration and motility of semen
• Novel strategy stymies SARS and other viruses: Versatile inhibitor prevents viral replication
• Cell cultures from a machine
• New findings contradict dominant theory in Alzheimer's disease
• Meningitis may be eradicated. New vaccine brings hope
• High tech detection of breast cancer using nanoprobes and SQUID
• Regular aspirin intake halves cancer risk, study finds
• Specific gene linked to cold sore susceptibility, study finds
• Malaria mosquitoes putting up resistance
• Images in magazines and on television increase body dissatisfaction
• Different paths to drug resistance in Leishmania: Evolution by changes in gene, region and chromosome number, not by mutation in genes
• Predicting how cancers will respond to chemo: New test determines whether tumor cells are already 'primed' for death
• How major signaling pathways are wired to our genome gives new insight into disease processes
• Childhood diet lower in fat and higher in fiber may lower risk for chronic disease in adulthood
• Older men with higher testosterone levels lose less muscle mass as they age

Obese people regain weight after dieting due to hormones Posted: 28 Oct 2011 11:25 AM PDT Worldwide, there are more than 1.5 billion overweight adults, including 400 million who are obese. Although restriction of diet often results in initial weight loss, more than 80 per cent of obese dieters fail to maintain their reduced weight. Obese people may regain weight after dieting due to hormonal changes, a new study has shown.

Scientists chart gene expression in the brain across lifespan Posted: 28 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT The "switching on" of specific genes in the human genome is what makes each human tissue and each human being unique. A new study found that many gene expression changes that occur during fetal development are reversed immediately after birth. Reversals of fetal expression changes are also seen again much later in life during normal aging of the brain. Additionally, the team observed the reversal of fetal expression changes in Alzheimer's disease findings reported in other studies.

How biological capsules respond under stress Posted: 28 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT Cosmetics and pharmaceutical drug delivery systems could be improved thanks to a new method developed to precisely measure the capability of capsule-like biological membranes to change shape under external stress.

Manual wheelchair use, exercise and calorie burning examined Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:53 AM PDT A person who uses a manual wheelchair can burn up to 120 calories in half an hour while wheeling at 2 mph on a flat surface, which is three times as much as someone doing the same action in a motorized wheelchair.

New approach to study depression: Finding may lead to new marker for risk Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:53 AM PDT Scientists have identified a new target area in the human genome that appears to harbor genes with a major role in the onset of depression.

Cancer survivorship research must look at quality of life, experts urge Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:53 AM PDT Assessing the quality of life experienced by cancer survivors is becoming increasingly important, say researchers. Such an assessment has a number of important applications when doing research on cancer survivorship, but just how to measure quality of life for cancer survivors is still being developed.

Folate receptors may serve as a front door to ovarian cancer treatment Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:53 AM PDT A new strategy that takes advantage of ovarian cancer's reliance on folate appears to give relapse patients extra months of life with few side effects, researchers say.

Deadly parasite juggles the number of its chromosomes Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:36 AM PDT Scientists have found a deadly parasite with some of its chromosomes in duplicate, others in triplicate, while still others are present four or even five times. Moreover, the copy number varies between individuals. Such a bizarre occurrence has never before been found in nature, in any organism. As a rule, chromosomes should come in couples. Scientists made the striking discovery while deciphering the genetic code of a series of Leishmania parasites.

More power to the cranberry: Study shows juice better than extracts at fighting infections Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:37 AM PDT With scientific evidence now supporting the age-old wisdom that cranberries prevent urinary tract infections, people have wondered if proanthocyanidins or PACs, a group of flavonoids found in cranberries, if extracted and condensed, perhaps in pill form, would be as effective as drinking the juice or eating cranberry sauce. A new study shows that the juice is far better at preventing biofilm formation, the precursor of infection, than PACs alone.

Fertility chip measures concentration and motility of semen Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:33 AM PDT Scientists have developed a "fertility chip" that can accurately count sperm and measure their motility. The chip can be inserted into a compact device for one-off use. A home test kit will soon make it possible for men to test their sperm in a familiar environment. As a result, there is a greater chance of obtaining a correct diagnosis, also the method is simple and inexpensive.

Novel strategy stymies SARS and other viruses: Versatile inhibitor prevents viral replication Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT Broad-spectrum antiviral drugs are urgently needed but have so far eluded discovery. Researchers have now identified a new point of attack. Moreover, they show that targeting of this molecule inhibits the growth of a wide range of viruses, including the SARS virus – at least in cell culture.

Cell cultures from a machine Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT Cell cultures form the basis of day-to-day research work in applications that range from the development of drugs and vaccines to the decoding of functions of individual genes. Up until now, cell cultures have been sown, tended, observed and transferred to vessels -- all by hand. A new device automates these worksteps completely.

New findings contradict dominant theory in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT For decades the amyloid hypothesis has dominated the research field in Alzheimer's disease. The theory describes how an increase in secreted beta-amyloid peptides leads to the formation of plaques, toxic clusters of damaged proteins between cells, which eventually result in neurodegeneration. Scientists have now presented a study that turns this premise on its head. The research group's data offers an opposite hypothesis, suggesting that it is in fact the neurons' inability to secrete beta-amyloid that is at the heart of pathogenesis in Alzheimer's disease.

Meningitis may be eradicated. New vaccine brings hope Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT Outbreaks of meningitis can quickly reach epidemic proportions across a number of African countries, afflicting tens of thousands of people. Now a new vaccine appears capable of completely eradicating the disease. The new and improved vaccine, MenAfriVac, costs no more than USD 0.50 per dose.

High tech detection of breast cancer using nanoprobes and SQUID Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:27 AM PDT Mammography saves lives by detecting very small tumors. However, it fails to find 10-25% of tumors and is unable to distinguish between benign and malignant disease. New research provides a new and potentially more sensitive method using tumor-targeted magnetic nanoprobes and superconducting quantum interference device sensors.

Regular aspirin intake halves cancer risk, study finds Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:27 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that taking regular aspirin halves the risk of developing hereditary cancers. The study -- which followed nearly 1,000 patients, in some cases for over 10 years -- found that those who had been taking a regular dose of aspirin had 50 per cent fewer incidents of hereditary cancer compared with those who were not taking aspirin.

Specific gene linked to cold sore susceptibility, study finds Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:27 AM PDT Researchers have identified a human chromosome containing a specific gene associated with susceptibility to herpes simplex labialis, the common cold sore. The study looks at how several genes may affect the severity of symptoms and frequency of this common infection. The findings, if confirmed, could have implications for the development of new drugs to treat outbreaks.

Malaria mosquitoes putting up resistance Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:21 AM PDT After a significant fall in malaria in Africa over recent years, the disease is making a disquieting return. The deployment of new, highly effective treatments and distribution of millions of insecticide treated bednets have helped check this terrible disease's progress. However, scientists have observed a new leap in the number of cases since the end of 2010 in the village of Dielmo, Senegal.

Images in magazines and on television increase body dissatisfaction Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:20 AM PDT

Different paths to drug resistance in Leishmania: Evolution by changes in gene, region and chromosome number, not by mutation in genes Posted: 27 Oct 2011 02:35 PM PDT Two remarkable discoveries have been revealed by researchers into genome analysis of Leishmania parasites. These results uncovered a surprising level of variation at the genome structure level.

Predicting how cancers will respond to chemo: New test determines whether tumor cells are already 'primed' for death Posted: 27 Oct 2011 11:58 AM PDT Challenging a half-century-old theory about why chemotherapy agents target cancer, scientists have devised a test that can predict how effective the drugs will be by determining whether tumor cells are already "primed" for death. The discovery suggests it may be possible to predict which cancer patients are most likely to benefit from chemotherapy, as well as to make chemotherapy drugs more effective by pushing tumor cells closer to the point of suicide.

How major signaling pathways are wired to our genome gives new insight into disease processes Posted: 27 Oct 2011 09:51 AM PDT Scientists have determined that master transcription factors determine the genes regulated by key signaling pathways. In this way, signaling pathways are targeted to genes that are most relevant to each cell type and tailor gene expression to control cell state, growth, differentiation, and death. By manipulating signaling pathways, scientists may find new therapies for cancer and other diseases or ways to push cells into more specialized states, such as neurons to treat nerve damage or insulin-producing beta cells for diabetes.

Childhood diet lower in fat and higher in fiber may lower risk for chronic disease in adulthood Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:30 AM PDT A recent study has found that a childhood behavioral intervention to lower dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat and increase consumption of foods that are good sources of dietary fiber resulted in significantly lower fasting plasma glucose levels and lower systolic blood pressure when study participants were re-evaluated in young adulthood.

Older men with higher testosterone levels lose less muscle mass as they age Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:30 AM PDT A recent study found that higher levels of testosterone were associated with reduced loss of lean muscle mass in older men, especially in those who were losing weight. In these men, higher testosterone levels were also associated with less loss of lower body strength.

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