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A study by Yale School of Medicine researchers reveals that the illnesses and injuries that can restrict the activity of older adults or land them in the hospital are linked to worsening functional ability, especially among those who are physically frail. The report appears in JAMA's November 3 theme issue on aging.

Thomas M. Gill, M.D., the Humana Foundation Professor of internal medicine (geriatrics), investigative medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale, will present the findings at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club November 2 at 10 a.m.

ST. LOUIS – Using state-of-the-art robotic and x-ray crystallographic equipment, researchers at Saint Louis University have revealed for the first time the molecular structure of the zymogen, or inactive, form of a blood-clotting enzyme.

In an article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Enrico Di Cera, M.D., chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and lead researcher of the study, said the NIH-funded research offers important information about the protein.

SAN DIEGO, CA (November 1, 2010)—Breast cancer, one of the most prevalent cancers in women, afflicts an additional 200,000 women each year and causes about 40,000 deaths annually. The disease often extends to neighboring lymph nodes, in part, through lymphovascular invasion (LVI)—a process in which cancer cells invade blood vessels or the lymphatic system—and can often translate into a poor prognosis for patients.

People who are physically fit and active have fewer and milder colds, indicates research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The US researchers base their findings on 1,000 adults up to the age of 85 whose respiratory health was tracked for 12 weeks during the autumn and winter of 2008.

Six out of 10 participants were women, and four out of 10 were aged between 18 and 39; 40% were middle aged, and one in four were aged 60 and older.

Imposing statutory limits on the salt content of processed foods could be 20 times more effective than voluntary curbs by industry, finds research published online in the journal Heart.

The Australian researchers assessed the public health benefits and cost effectiveness of different strategies for reducing dietary salt content - a factor known to have a key role in the increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

A tool, widely regarded as the "gold standard," but often deemed to be too expensive, cuts needless referrals for suspected glaucoma, indicates preliminary research published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Since the publication of new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), new referrals for suspected glaucoma have increased substantially. And this is likely to go on rising as the population ages, warn the authors. If left untreated, glaucoma causes blindness.

Male worms plug females after copulation as a form of 'gift', rather than to prevent them from mating again, as had previously been thought. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology found that plugged females mated just as often and were just as attractive as those who were unplugged, and that plugging ultimately improved female fitness.

STANFORD, Calif. — A newly approved drug may be a cost-effective way to prevent stroke in patients with an irregular heart rhythm — and may also offer patients better health outcomes than the commonly prescribed, but potentially risky, blood thinner warfarin. That's according to a new analysis from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – It may seem difficult to change stereotypical thinking. Perceptions can be very important in forming an individual's attitudes. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that people conditioned to think in opposition to racial stereotypes are more receptive to people from minority groups starring in commercial advertising.

Saleem Alhabash, a doctoral candidate in the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

GMOs, or Genetically Modified Organisms, may raise concerns of genes escaping from crops and having unknown effects on natural, wild species. But what is the real risk that traits associated with GMOs will actually migrate to and persist in their wild relatives? Interest in plant ecology, crop production and weed management led John Lindquist and his colleagues from the University of Nebraska and USDA-ARS to investigate how gene flow from a cultivated crop to a weedy relative would influence the ecological fitness of a cropwild hybrid offspring.

High-calorie beverages not allowed by national guidelines are still available in a majority of U.S. elementary schools, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the March 2011 print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

More than one-fourth of children hospitalized with 2009 novel influenza A(H1N1) in California required intensive care or died, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. A second report assessing children in Israel found that those with underlying illnesses and infants born prematurely were at greater risk of severe complications following 2009 novel influenza A(H1N1) infection.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed a novel technology using quantum dots that is expected to have major implications for research and treatment of tuberculosis, as well as other inflammatory lung diseases.

Female dolphins who have help from their female friends are far more successful as mothers than those without such help, according to a landmark new study.

Previous research into reproductive success in animal populations has had mixed findings: some studies point to the benefits of inherited genetic characteristics, while others show the benefits of social effects, such as having an honorary aunt or uncle or other unrelated helpers.

A drug in testing to treat atherosclerosis significantly inhibited growth of ovarian cancer in both human cell lines and mouse models, the first such report of a peptide being used to fight malignancies, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.