Body

The stress caused by psychological shock from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, felt even by people with no direct link to the event, may have led to an increased number of male children being miscarried in the US, say researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health who claim to have found that the fetal death rate for boys spiked in September 2001, and that significantly fewer boys than expected were born in December of that year.

A correlation has been discovered between specific variants of the gene that codes for a key immune system protein, TLR9, and the risk of mother-to-child, or vertical, transmission of HIV.

Irvine, Calif. — Stress caused by psychological shock from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, felt even by people with no direct link to the event, may have led to an increase in male children being miscarried in the U.S. Tim Bruckner, assistant professor of public health at UC Irvine, and colleagues at UC Berkeley found that the fetal death rate for males spiked in September 2001 and that significantly fewer boys were born than expected in December of that year.

INDIANAPOLIS — Two human proteins that evolutionary processes have conserved from ancient single-celled organisms appear to provide new targets of opportunity for scientists hoping to thwart the development of diabetes.

To prevent rejection of their new kidneys, kidney transplant recipients need to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives. A handful of people, out of the thousands who have undergone transplantation, have been able to stop taking these drugs without losing their kidneys.

Researchers studying these rare individuals have identified a pattern of genes turned on in their white blood cells, which may one day be used to help identify other transplant recipients who could reduce or completely taper their immunosuppressive therapy without ill effect.

Researchers have identified a distinct pattern of gene expression in the largest reported group of kidney transplant recipients who have not rejected the transplant kidneys even though they stopped taking anti-rejection drugs. This finding may help identify other transplant recipients who could safely reduce or end use of immunosuppressive therapy. In 2008, more than 80,000 people in the United States were living with a kidney transplant.

SAN DIEGO, CA – May 24, 2010 -- Researchers from Italy have found a statistically significant association between enteroviral infection and diagnosis of type-1 diabetes in children. They report their findings today at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego, California.

SAN DIEGO, CA – May 24, 2010 -- Scientists from the University of Massachusetts have developed an animal model that shows how an early childhood lung infection can cause asthma later in life. They present their data today at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.

On the 40th anniversary of the journal Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, stroke leaders from around the world celebrated stroke research accomplishments and set an agenda for the future, according to a special report in the journal.

"The past 40 years have seen more advances in stroke than the previous four millennia," said Vladimir Hachinski, M.D., editor of Stroke and distinguished university professor of neurology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. "We've accomplished a lot but we need to accelerate that progress."

DALLAS, May 24, 2010 — Frequent doctor visits helped diabetes patients lower their high blood pressure to normal quicker, according to a large study reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Drinking fewer sugar-sweetened beverages — a leading source of added sugar in the U.S. diet — may lower blood pressure, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may have fewer respiratory flare-ups and longer survival if they take beta-blocker medications, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Pregnant women who contract the H1N1 flu strain are at risk for obstetrical complications including fetal distress, premature delivery, emergency cesarean delivery and fetal death, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

In a tropical environment, influenza A(H1N1) appeared milder than seasonal flu, was less likely to cause fever and upset stomach and more likely to infect younger individuals, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Academic detailing—a method involving face-to-face education of clinicians by investigators trained to present trial findings and guidelines—may have been associated with a small change in prescribing patterns for patients with high blood pressure, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.