Childhood anxiety disorders can and should be treated, according to UT Southwestern national expert

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DALLAS – Dec. 24, 2008 – Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents should be recognized and treated to prevent educational underachievement and adult substance abuse, anxiety disorders and depression, says a nationally recognized child psychiatrist from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

'Tis the season to be binge drinking?

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As the party season approaches, a timely reminder of the issues surrounding the binge drinking culture are again highlighted by research into 'young people and alcohol' a team lead by Professor Christine Griffin, at the University of Bath. The research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) suggests several considerations for future policy.

New study calls for global project finance reform

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Cancer drug effectively treats transplant rejections

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CINCINNATI—University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have discovered a new therapy for transplant patients, targeting the antibody-producing plasma cells that can cause organ rejection.

Results of the study are published in the Dec. 27, 2008, edition of the journal Transplantation.

How chromosomes meet in the dark -- Switch that turns on X chromosome matchmaking

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A research group lead by scientists at the University of Warwick has discovered the trigger that pulls together X chromosomes in female cells at a crucial stage of embryo development. Their discovery could also provide new insights into how other similar chromosomes spontaneously recognize each other and are bound together at key parts of analogous cell processes. This is an important mechanism as the binding togetgher of too many of too few of a particular chromosome can cause a number of medical conditions such as Down's Syndrome or Turner's Syndrome.

Case Western Reserve finds mechanism underlying alt. splicing of premessenger RNA into messenger RNA

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Sleep disorder may be early sign of dementia or Parkinson's disease

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ST. PAUL, Minn. – People with a sleep disorder that causes them to kick or cry out during their sleep may be at greater risk of developing dementia or Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the December 24, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Sleep disorders: A warning sign for neurodegenerative disease?

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Montreal, December 16, 2008 – According to the latest study by Dr. Ronald Postuma from the Research Institute of the MUHC and Dr. Jacques Montplaisir from the Université de Montréal and the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, 52.4 per cent of patients with REM sleep behaviour disorder develop a neurodegenerative disease within 12 years following their initial diagnosis. These results will be published on December 24, 2008 in the journal Neurology, the official publication of the American Academy of Neurology.

Little progress made in patient safety in spite of Institute of Medicine call to action

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Despite increased emphasis on patient safety, little progress has been made in making hospitals safer, says Johns Hopkins critical care specialist Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., in an article in the Dec. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

He identifies physician autonomy and a lack of standardization of safety protocols as the culprits.

Apolipoprotein(a): A natural regulator of inflammation

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In a study to be published in the January 09 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Hoover-Plow and co-workers in seeking to define a role of apo(a) in leukocyte recruitment have identified a novel activity of apo(a) apolipoprotein that may function as a natural and cell specific suppressor of the inflammatory response in vivo. In addition, a mechanism for this novel function of apo(a) was also identified: its selective regulation of cytokine production. These effects of apo(a) are independent of its molecular mimicry of Plg.