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Folic acid lowers blood arsenic levels
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
A new study conducted in Bangladesh finds that folic acid supplements can dramatically lower blood arsenic levels in individuals chronically exposed to arsenic-contaminated drinking water. Arsenic is a toxic element that is naturally present in some soils and water. Arsenic-contaminated drinking water is currently a significant public health problem in at least 70 countries, including several developing countries and also parts of the United States. Chronic arsenic exposure is linked to increased risk for skin, liver and bladder cancers, skin lesions, cardiovascular disease, and other adverse health outcomes. The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)........Sleep problems may affect a person's diet
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Sleep problems can influence a persons diet. Those who dont get enough sleep are less likely to cook their own meals and, instead, opt to eat fast food. It is the lack of nutritional value of this restaurant-prepared food that may cause health problems for these people in the long-run, as per a research abstract that will be presented Monday at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS)........"Nurse Cells" Make Life and Death Decisions
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
"Nurse cells" play an important role in deciding which developing infection-fighting cells, called T cells, live and which die, according to research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and reported in the recent issue of the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine. The infection-fighting cells, known as thymocytes or T cells, live in the thymus, an organ in the upper portion of the chest. Loss of the thymus results in severe immunodeficiency and increased susceptibility to infection. The function of T cells produced by the thymus is to recognize harmful invaders. Once invaders have been identified, T cells then attempt to eliminate disease-infected cells........High insulin levels impair intestinal metabolic function
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Nutritional scientists at the University of Alberta are the first to establish a connection between high insulin levels and dysfunction of intestinal lipid metabolism in an animal model. They believe this finding supports their contention that impaired intestinal metabolic function plays a critical role in the development of cardiovascular disease........Misusing vitamin to foil drug test
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Taking excessive doses of a common vitamin in an attempt to defeat drug screening tests may send the user to the hospitalor worse. Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The University of Pennsylvania reported on two adults and two adolescents who suffered toxic side effects from taking large amounts of niacin, also known as vitamin B3, in mistaken attempts to foil urine drug tests........Flexible Electronics As Sensors
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Flexible electronic structures with the potential to bend, expand and manipulate electronic devices are being developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These flexible structures could find useful applications as sensors and as electronic devices that can be integrated into artificial muscles or biological tissues........The formation of social memories
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Is there a specific memory for events involving people? Researchers in the Vulnerability, Adaptation and Psychopathology Laboratory (CNRS/University Paris VI France ) and a Canadian team at Douglas Hospital, McGill University (Montreal), have identified the internal part of the prefrontal cortex as being the key structure for memorising social information. Published in Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, February 2007........Low-dose aspirin Vs high-dose aspirin
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
The use of medicines to fight cardiovascular disease has been a primary focus of research in this area for the past several decades, as combinations of interventions and medicinal treatment have gradually begun to increase long-term survival rates. Two studies presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 56th Annual Scientific Session look at the measurable impact of the use of aspirin and other maintenance therapies, and one demonstrates that lower doses of therapies may prove to be just as beneficial while also lowering side effects. ACC.07 is the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, bringing together heart specialists and cardiovascular specialists to further breakthroughs in cardiovascular medicine........Receptor For Alcohol Pleasure And Problems
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
A genetic variant of a receptor in the brains reward circuitry heightens the stimulating effects of early exposures to alcohol and increases alcohol consumption, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Conducted in rhesus monkeys, the study extends previous research that suggests an important role for a similar brain receptor variant in the development of human alcohol use disorders. A report of the findings is published in the March, 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry........Protein That Appears To Regulate Bone Mass Loss
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Typically typically an estimated ten million americans suffer from osteoporosis, and another 34 million americans are at risk of developing the disease, which is characterized by a severe loss of bone mineral density, fragile bones and an increased risk of hip, spine and wrist fractures. The basic mechanism behind osteoporosis involves an imbalance between bone mineral formation and loss, but the detailed biological processes that lead to this imbalance are not completely understood. Now researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and colleagues are reporting new insights into the biology of bone loss based on a study of 14 people with a rare genetic disorder called X-linked Hyper IgM Syndrome........The metabolic response to colitis
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
A new study being published by the American Physiological Society (www.The-APS.org) finds that the body responds differently to colitis (inflammation of the colon) based on whether the disease is acute (sharp and brief) or chronic (long-term). Researchers, using an experimental mouse model of colitis, discovered that the effects of acute colitis were associated with decreased body weight, food intake, and body fat content. Chronic colitis was associated with reduced body fat content, decreased bone mineral density and attenuated use of energy, termed energy expenditure. The discovery may help lead to better symptom management for the 500, 000 Americans who live with the disease........Usefulness of cardiovascular disease test?
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Scientists with Dartmouth Medical School and the Veterans Affairs Outcomes Group at the White River Junction (Vt.) VA Medical Center are questioning the usefulness of the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) test for guiding decisions about the use of cholesterol-lowering medication. The scientists show that adding CRP testing to routine assessments would increase the number of Americans eligible for cholesterol-lowering therapy by about 2 million if used judiciously, and by over 25 million if used broadly-with most of these people being at low risk for heart attacks or heart disease. The authors argue that the medical community should focus energies on treating high-risk patients before expanding the pool to include so a number of low-risk patients. Their study was reported in the recent issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine........Barnyard Emissions And Asthma
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Reducing barnyard emissions is one way to help reduce the harmful effects of tiny atmospheric air particles that can cause severe asthma in children, and lung cancer and heart attacks in some adults. Carnegie Mellon University researcher Peter J. Adams argues that improved control of ammonia emissions from farm barnyards is more economical and efficient than trying to control the effects of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution from some industrial plants........Mental And Physical Health Of Caregivers
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
Having positive cultural beliefs about caring for elders and strong religious beliefs can ward off depression and other mental health difficulties for female caregivers of spouses and parents with dementia, but sustained elevated levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, puts these women at risk for physical health problems, according to a study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychology........Genetic Testing Of Degenerative Eye Disease
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:21:13 GMT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. Genetic testing for eye disease is providing vital information about complex retinal diseases, especially when used to confirm a clinicians diagnosis. In a newly published review of such tests that were conducted over a five-year period at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, scientists were able to confirm a clinicians diagnosis in half of the cases. The testing took place in the laboratory of Radha Ayyagari, Ph.D., director of Kelloggs Ophthalmic Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory........
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