Body

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Physicians usually ask children to fast overnight before a cholesterol test. New research shows that this may not always be necessary.

"Cholesterol testing can be very difficult for families," said Asheley C. Skinner, PhD, lead author of the study to be presented Sunday, May 2 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. "When having to fast, this almost always means the child has to return on another morning for the test, which can be very problematic for busy families."

Depression among economically disadvantaged mothers could last well beyond the postpartum period and become a chronic condition, suggests a new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine. The study also finds that symptoms could improve with brief treatment.

The results will be presented May 1 by lead author Carol C. Weitzman, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and in the Child Study Center at Yale School at Yale School of Medicine, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia Medicine.

Heart and liver transplant recipients are at particularly high risk of developing lung cancer after receiving the donated organ, researchers report at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference. They are advising doctors to screen for such cancers in these patients to maximize the chance of detecting the malignancy early.

Clinicians, researchers and scientists from around the world will gather for Digestive Disease Week® 2010 (DDW), the largest and most prestigious gastroenterology meeting, from May 1 to May 5, 2010, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA. DDW is the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, the largest and oldest GI society in the world. AGA researchers will present exciting, cutting-edge data during the meeting that will help change the way physicians diagnose and treat GI disorders.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Extremely low birthweight infants (ELBW) who received feedings supplemented with probiotics had better weight gain than infants who were not given the supplements, according to a randomized, controlled, double-blind study to be presented Saturday, May 1 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – When pediatricians see a child for a check-up, they may want to spend a few minutes checking out the mother's well-being, too.

New research suggests that depression is common in disadvantaged mothers, well beyond the postpartum period. In addition, if depressed moms are treated briefly, their symptoms improve as do their perceptions of their child's behavior or the behavior problems themselves.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy is not only safe for mother and baby, but also can prevent preterm labor/births and infections, according to results of a randomized controlled study to be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Anaheim, Calif. (April 30, 2010) – Natural S-equol, a novel soy germ-based compound, is very likely the primary ingredient for reducing hot flushes in the dietary supplement SE5-OH, which is under development for reduction of menopause symptoms, according to pre-clinical efficacy data from studies using an animal model presented at the Experimental Biology (EB) 2010 annual meeting.

The most comprehensive assessment to date of global adult mortality appears today, April 30, in The Lancet . The study, "Worldwide mortality in men and women aged 15-59 years from 1970 to 2010: a systematic analysis", shows that across countries, inequality in adult mortality has grown to the point where adult men in Swaziland -- the country with the worst mortality rate -- now have a probability of premature death that is nine times the mortality rate of the best country, Cyprus. The rates of mortality in southern Africa are now higher than mortality rates were in Sweden in 1751.

Louisville, KY – Current research suggests that tumor-secreted exosomes inhibit the immune response, enhancing tumor metastasis. The related report by Liu et al, "Contribution of MyD88 to the tumor exosome-mediated induction of myeloid derived suppressor cells," appears in the May 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

The immune system plays a critical role in identifying and destroying tumor cells. Many tumors overcome this surveillance by inhibiting local immune responses, often leading to metastasis.

Using DNA samples and images from Earth-orbiting satellites, conservationists from Columbia University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and Fundación AquaMarina, are gathering new insights about the franciscana—a poorly known coastal dolphin species of eastern South America—in an effort to understand populations and conserve them.

NEW YORK (April 29, 2010) -- Vitamin E has been shown effective in treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an obesity-associated chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death. NASH also is related to or a part of type 2 diabetes, lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease.

Park Ridge, IL (April 30, 2010) – The importance of high-quality protein foods in overall health was among the topics discussed this week at Experimental Biology 2010 in Anaheim, Calif. Researchers from a variety of institutions discussed studies that looked at varying levels of dietary protein intake to promote health throughout life including the role of protein in weight loss and muscle maintenance.

Dietary Protein for Overall Health

Testing for the presence of specific cancer protein 'fingerprints' in the blood of lung cancer patients may be a useful means of identifying a subgroup whose tumors are more likely to shrink when treated with the drug erlotinib, especially when other testing methods are unavailable, according to new data presented at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

The recent approval of Europe's first personalized treatment for lung cancer heralds the arrival of a new era for lung cancer treatment that will demand significant changes to the way cancer specialists and other hospital doctors work, a leading expert said today at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.