In a new study published in PLoS Medicine, William Evans of St Jude Childrens Research Hospital, Memphis, and colleagues provide new insight into resistance to the widely-used cancer drug methotrexate (MTX) in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children.
You are what you eat, as the old saying goes. Maybe so, but increasingly researchers are finding that you are also what your mother ate maternal nutrition has profound consequences on the health of offspring.
It is well known that smaller babies are more likely to suffer from heart disease, stroke, hypertension and diabetes. More recently, poor nutrition around the time of fertilization and egg implantation have also been shown to be detrimental in adult life.
Engine exhaust fumes are linked to excess deaths from pneumonia across England, suggests research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The annual death toll is comparable to that caused by the London smog in 1952, suggests the author.
Data on atmospheric emissions, published causes of death, and expected causes of death for 352 local authority jurisdictions in England were combined to calculate the impact of pollution on death rates between 1996 and 2004.
Levels of air pollution varied substantially among the local authorities.
The use of antidepressants is likely to account for only 10 per cent of the fall in suicide rates among middle aged and older people, suggests a large study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Globally, more than 800, 000 people commit suicide every year.
Rates have been falling in many countries, a factor that has been associated with better recognition of depression and the increasing use of antidepressants, particularly the newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
Young people who dress according to the customs of their own ethnic group are less likely to have subsequent mental health problems than those who don't, suggests research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The findings are based on just under 1000 white British and Bangladeshi 11 to 14 year olds in East London schools, where levels of population diversity are among the highest in the UK.
In 2001 the pupils were quizzed about their culture, social life, and health. They were surveyed again two years later, focusing on their mental health.
Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling that helps to regulate mammals growth, metabolism, reproduction and longevity is well documented. Now research published in the open access journal Journal of Biology describes the genetic identification of the first functional insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) ortholog in invertebrates.
Now new research published in the open access journal BMC Cell Biology shows that nicotine affects neutrophils, the short-lived white blood cells that defend against infection, by reducing their ability to seek and destroy bacteria.
As well as cutting our fossil fuel emissions, planting new forests, or managing existing forests or agricultural land more effectively can capitalise on nature’s ability to act as a carbon sink. Research published online in the open access journal Carbon Balance and Management shows that although planting trees alone is unlikely to solve our climate problems, large-scale plantations could have a significant effect in the longer term.
1. Testosterone Spray Improves Sexual Satisfaction Slightly in Premenopausal Women But So Does Placebo; Editorial Says Treat Women Conventionally
A study that randomized 261 women aged 35 to 46 with self-reported low libido and low serum free testosterone levels to a group that received one of three different doses of a testosterone spray or placebo daily for 16 weeks found that all groups -- including those taking placebo--reported increased frequency of sexually satisfying events (Article, p. 569).
Sleeping sickness creates a metabolic 'fingerprint' in the blood and
urine, which could enable a new test to be developed to diagnose the
disease, according to new research published today in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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