ST. PAUL, Minn. People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who smoke marijuana are more likely to have emotional and memory problems, according to research published February 13, 2008, in the online edition of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
CHAPEL HILL Every year, millions of people are infected with noroviruses - commonly called stomach flu often resulting in up to 72 hours of vomiting and diarrhea. While most people recover in a few days, the symptoms can lead to dehydration and - in rare cases, especially among the elderly and infants - death.
Now, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health have discovered that the virus mutates genetically, similar to the virus that causes influenza. And, like flu, a vaccine could be possible.
New evidence suggests screening for colorectal cancer, which is now recommended to begin at age 50 for most people, should start five to 10 years earlier for individuals with a significant lifetime exposure to tobacco smoke, a University of Rochester Medical Center study said.
An examination of 3,450 cases found that current smokers were diagnosed with colon cancer approximately seven years earlier than people who never smoked. The study is also one of the first to link exposure to second-hand smoke, especially early in life, with a younger age for colon cancer onset.
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ECOLOGY-- Natures way . . .
PHILADELPHIA Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that a bacterial toxin from the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus shuts down the control mechanism of the tunnel, called an ion channel, in immune cell membranes. Shutting down ion channels has long been known to suppress the immune response, and the bacteria may use the toxin to neutralize host defenses against bacteria. The study is published in the February 14 issue of Nature.
HOUSTON, Feb. 13, 2008 -- The first genome-wide search for genes governing social behavior has found that some of the simplest social creatures -- the amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum -- have more than 100 genes that help regulate their cooperative behavior.
The study by scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) was published online this week by the journal Nature. It marks one of the first large-scale attempts to combine evolutionary biology with genomics in a systematic search for genes tied to social behavior.
An article in the debut issue of SAGEs Foot & Ankle Specialist (FAS,) written by Thomas Zgonis, DPM, FACFAS, John J. Stapleton, DPM, and Thomas S. Roukis, DPM, FACFAS, details a 3-step treatment plan for patients with diabetic foot infections, recommending first controlling the infection by removing the infected tissue, then conducting a comprehensive assessment, and finally, restructuring the tissue to assure that the wound is closed properly. Following this approach can help save the limb.
Giving birth to a boy can lead to higher levels of severe post-natal depression (PND) and reduced quality of life than having a girl, according to research published in the February issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing.
A team of researchers led by Professor Claude de Tychey, from Universite Nancy 2, France, found that just under a third of the 181 women they studied four to eight weeks after delivery had PND.
When confronted with emergencies or natural disasters, such as the wildfires that raged through San Diego and Los Angeles counties last October or the tornadoes that hit the southern U.S. last week, residents often dial 9-1-1 as their first course of action.
Garlic mustard has become an invasive species in temperate forests across the United States, choking out native plants on forest floors and threatening ecosystem diversity. University of Illinois ecologist Adam Davis has created a computer model that in combination with quarantined research tests he believes will be able to predict the perfect predator -- a pest that can be introduced into a forested area that will help reduce the garlic mustard population.
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