Body

People who have an allotment, especially those aged over 60, tend to be significantly healthier than those who do not. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health have shown that the small gardens were associated with increased levels of physical activity at all ages, and improved health and well-being in more elderly people.

More and more people have become aware of the dangers of excessive fructose in diet. A new review on fructose in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) indicates just how dangerous this simple sugar may be.

Frequent hemodialysis improved left ventricular mass (heart size) and self-reported physical health compared to conventional hemodialysis for kidney failure, according to the Frequent Hemodialysis Network (FHN) Daily Trial funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Results were published online Nov. 20, 2010, in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with a presentation at the American Society of Nephrology meeting in Denver.

An international group of scientists, including researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC), has discovered 30 genes that control the age at which girls reach sexual maturity. They found that many of the genes responsible for puberty also play a strong role in how the body metabolises fat, establishing new biological links between going through puberty at a young age and being at increased risk of obesity.

Leading scientists and marine managers have called for a greater national effort to protect vital 1000-kilometre stretches of ocean bordering the middle of Australia's eastern and western coastlines.

In a major statement entitled The Coffs Harbour Subtropical Reefs Declaration, they urge increased focus and better management for reefs south of the Great Barrier Reef and WA tropical coral zone, explaining that these more southerly areas are expected to become critical refuges for northern tropical marine life under global warming.

In principle, the new profiling method could be put to immediate practical use by law enforcement, according to the researchers who report their findings in the November 23rd issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. They have already begun the required validation of the test, which is designed to assure that quality standards are met.

A pilot trial showed that a six-month exercise training program designed to increase leg strength, leg flexibility and overall fitness may improve post-thrombotic syndrome, a frequent, chronic complication of deep vein thrombosis, states a research article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100248.pdf

A new evidence-based clinical practice guideline will help doctors, healthcare providers and parents reduce the pain and distress of immunization in children, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj092048.pdf.

Richmond, Va. (Nov. 22, 2010) – Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have discovered that a gene well known for its involvement in tumor cell development, growth and metastasis also protects cancer cells from being destroyed by chemotherapy. By inhibiting the expression of this gene, doctors may have a new viable and effective approach for treating aggressive cancers such as breast, liver and prostate carcinomas, malignant gliomas and neuroblastomas that result from high expression of this cancer-promoting gene.

A new study reveals that muscle cells fuse together during development by poking "fingers" into each other to help break down the membranes separating them. The study appears online on November 22, 2010 in the Journal of Cell Biology(www.jcb.org).

Black, Asian, and Native American children are more likely than white and Hispanic children to die after being treated for neuroblastoma, according to new research on the pediatric cancer. The study, of more than 3,500 patients with the disease, is the largest ever to look at racial disparities in risk and survival for the most common solid cancer found in young children.

Beta-thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that results in chronic anemia. A major complication of the condition is iron overload, which damages organs such as the liver and heart. The iron overload has been linked to low levels of the protein hepcidin, a negative regulator of intestinal iron absorption and iron recycling. A team of researchers, led by Stefano Rivella, at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, has now shown that increasing the concentration of hepcidin in beta-thalassemic mice limits iron overload and markedly reduces their anemia.

When using combined positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT) imaging, adopting a true whole-body field of view in the imaging of cancer patients could lead to more accurate staging and restaging than achieved with the routinely used limited whole-body field of view, according to a study in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). PET/CT is a dual imaging technique that is used to diagnose and treat a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers.