Body

Scientists have discovered two "body clock" genes that reveal how seasonal changes in hormones are controlled and could ultimately help find treatments for seasonal affective disorder.

Researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Manchester also found that one of these genes (EYA3) has a similar role in both birds and mammals. showing a common link that has been conserved for more than 300 million years.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an equal opportunity destroyer. It attacks the central nervous system and eventually renders most patients disabled. Among its high-profile victims are celebrated cellist Jacqueline du Pre, whose career was ended by MS, and Joan Didion, one of America's greatest writers — but they are far from alone.

Analyzing the expression of particular genes in lung cancers could soon allow researchers to identify groups of patients who are likely to benefit most from treatment with angiogenesis-inhibitor drugs, a Spanish team reports.

Geneva, 29 April 2010 -- Lung cancer patients whose tumors over-express a cell surface molecule called CXCR4 do significantly worse than those who do not, Canadian researchers have found. Their work, reported at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, highlights the exciting possibility that the molecule could soon become a new target for personalized cancer therapy.

CXCR4 is a receptor that is found on the surface of many different cell types in the body. It plays a role in immune system signaling between cells.

It makes your skin crawl—a bug that crawls onto your lips while you sleep, drawn by the exhaled carbon dioxide, numbs your skin, bites, then gorges on your blood. And if that's not insult enough, it promptly defecates on the wound—and passes on a potentially deadly disease.

Dietary changes that include probiotics and/or prebiotics (found in some foods) may help alleviate the severity of celiac disease for some patients. According to a new research study appearing in the May 2010 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org), differing intestinal bacteria in celiac patients could influence inflammation to varying degrees.

Washington, April 29, 2010 – Practicing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as hand-washing and mouth covering may help limit the transmission of the pandemic flu, but more research on these measures is critical according to a new study appearing in the May issue of AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC).

University of Adelaide research is showing that the sex of the baby determines the way it responds to stressors during pregnancy and its ability to survive pregnancy complications.

Male and female babies during pregnancy show different growth and development patterns following stressors during pregnancy such as disease, cigarette use or psychological stress.

The research is being carried out by the Robinson Institute's Pregnancy and Development Group, based at the Lyell McEwin Hospital and led by Associate Professor Vicki Clifton.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that liver transplant recipients develop premature immune senescence, the normal process by which the immune system ages and becomes less effective. Full details appear in the May issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

The density of transposable (jumping) elements between sex chromosomes in primates may have important consequences for the studies of human genetic diseases, say Penn State University researchers. Erika Kvikstad, a 2009 Penn State Ph.D.

A new study by researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has found that more than a third of drinkers 60 years old and older consume amounts of alcohol that are excessive or that are potentially harmful in combination with certain diseases they may have or medications they may be taking.

PITTSBURGH, April 29 – A small piece of RNA appears to play a big role in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to lung disease researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study, which is the first to examine microRNAs in the disease, is available online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Tampa, FL (April 29, 2010) -- Combination antibiotics effectively treat Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis – a major step toward management, and possibly cure, of this disease, a federal multicenter clinical trial led by the University of South Florida College of Medicine found.

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (April 29th, 2010) - Although more than two fifths of lung cancers are diagnosed in patients over 70, data from clinical trials on the safest and most effective treatments for this age group are scarce. Now Italian oncologists are conducting a number of trials targeting elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and offer a review of the latest findings - and their recommendations - in the current issue of Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, published by SAGE.