Body

Many of us are simply overloaded with cholesterol, and now a report in the July issue of Cell Metabolism brings what might be good news: There is more than one way to get rid of that cholesterol, which can otherwise lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) recover from exacerbations equally well if they are treated at home or in a hospital, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. Furthermore, longer treatment with antibiotics does not appear to offer any additional benefit over shorter courses.

The study was published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

A new report from the EarlyBird Diabetes Study suggests that physical activity has little if any role to play in the obesity epidemic among children. Obesity is the key factor behind diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

EarlyBird is based at the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, and has been observing in detail a cohort of city school children for the past 11 years.

Hyperglycemia during critical illness may be used as a warning of future diabetes. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care have found a significant association between acute illness complicated with hyperglycaemia and the future development of type II diabetes or glucose intolerance.

ATLANTA – July 7, 2010 – The continued drop in overall cancer mortality rates over the last 20 years has averted more than three-quarters of a million (767,000) cancer deaths according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society's annual Cancer Statistics article reports that the overall death rate from cancer in the United States in 2007 was 178.4 per 100,000, a relative decrease of 1.3 percent from 2006, when the rate was 180.7 per 100,000, continuing a trend that began in 1991 for men and 1992 for women.

Americans with lung disease may face a far greater level of lung damage than either they or their doctor suspect, depending on their individual genetic heritage, according to a study to be released July 7. The research implications range from diagnosing the severity of asthma, to disability decisions or eligibility for lung transplants, researchers say.

CHICAGO (July 7, 2010) – A decline in the number of international medical graduates (IMGs) is threatening patient access to quality surgical care, according to a new study in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

WORCESTER, Mass.— The ability to combat some age-related diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, may rest with scientists unlocking clues about the molecular and cellular processes governing aging. The underlying theory is that if the healthy portion of an individual's life span can be extended, it may delay the onset of certain age-related diseases.

Anyone who has seen teosinte, the wild grass from which maize (corn) evolved, might be forgiven for assuming many genetic changes underlie the transformation of one plant to the other.

However, a method for exploring the genetics of domestication called Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping has revealed that only modest modifications are needed to convert a wild plant to a crop plant. Some major transitions in phenotype can even be achieved by a single genetic change.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Overweight and moderately obese postmenopausal women using diets based on higher protein intake also need to be aware of potential bone loss, according to new research from Purdue University.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University researcher can better retrieve specific proteins needed to study how cancer cells form by using a newly developed technique and synthetic nanopolymer.

W. Andy Tao, an assistant professor of biochemistry, said proteins can be mapped and analyzed to find ways to inhibit the processes that lead to cancer. But first those few proteins must be fished out of a sea of thousands of others.

FAIRFAX, Va.—The Society of Interventional Radiology, with the support of 41 international societies representing 10,000 interventional radiology doctors, has issued the first global statement defining interventional radiology—one designed to benefit medical treatment for individuals. The statement addresses the evolution, impact and future direction of this minimally invasive specialty, emphasizing the worldwide availability of this specialized medical care.

Middle-aged men and women with osteoarthritis of the knee now have more options than ever before for treatments that may allow them to remain active in the sports they love, according to a review published in the July 2010 issue of of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS).

A common test to diagnose gestational diabetes -- a temporary condition which can harm both mother and child if left untreated -- also has predictive power for Type II adult-onset diabetes, a new Tel Aviv University study finds.

As part of the only U.S. prospective multicenter clinical trial to compare natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) to laparoscopy, surgeons at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have performed the trial's first oral gallbladder removal. This landmark study will evaluate whether or not NOTES is safe and as effective as traditional laparoscopic surgery.