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ST. PAUL, Minn. – Having a shingles infection that affects the eyes may increase the risk of stroke, according to new research published in the March 3, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Too many major sports arenas in Europe do not have adequate equipment and procedures in place to save the lives of spectators who suffer heart attacks while watching a sporting event, according to new research published online today (Wednesday 3 March) in the European Heart Journal [1].

In a study published online today in the journal Addiction, researchers in the United States have discovered that accidental overdose deaths involving cocaine rise when the average weekly ambient temperature passes 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit).

SEATTLE – Women who take some types of bone-building drugs used to prevent and treat osteoporosis may be at lower risk of breast cancer, according to a study by U.S. researchers published today in the British Journal of Cancer.

The study found that women who used bisphosphonate drugs, such as Fosamax, Boniva and Zomita, for more than two years had a nearly 40 percent reduction in risk as compared to those who did not, according to lead author Polly Newcomb, Ph.D., M.P.H., head of the Cancer Prevention Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Teaching college students — an understudied population for preventing weight gain — about societal issues related to food and agriculture may help them choose healthier diets, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's 2010 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

In a pilot study, researchers from Stanford University in California found that a college course focused on social issues related to food resulted in healthier diets than three classes focused on health related issues such as obesity.

Children with insomnia and shorter sleep duration had impaired modulation of heart rhythm during sleep, Pennsylvania researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

In a study of young children, researchers showed that insomnia symptoms were consistently associated with impaired heart variability measures. They also found a significant but less consistent pattern with shortened sleep duration and decreased heart rate variability.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2010 — Coffee drinkers may be less likely to be hospitalized for heart rhythm disturbances, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. The researchers, who note the findings may be surprising because patients frequently report palpitations after drinking coffee, are presenting the study at the American Heart Association's 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in San Francisco on March 5, 2010.

For children whose asthma is not well controlled and on low doses of inhaled corticosteroids, a long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) may be the most effective of three possible step-up treatments. National Jewish clinician-scientists Stanley Szefler, Joseph Spahn, Ronina Covar Gary Larsen and Lynn Taussig, and colleagues in the NIH-funded Childhood Asthma Research and Education Network published their findings March 2, 2010, online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

URBANA – A new University of Illinois study touts the benefits of soluble fiber—found in oats, apples, and nuts, for starters—saying that it reduces the inflammation associated with obesity-related diseases and strengthens the immune system.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — There's been a rich debate in marine ecological circles about what happens to a key food source along rocky coastlines dominated by upwelling. The literature is filled with studies suggesting that the larvae of simple prey organisms such as barnacles and mussels hitch a ride on the coast-to-offshore currents typical of upwelling and are thus mostly absent in the coastal tidal zones.

A 2001 federal law mandates care for Medicare-eligible patients enrolled in clinical trials; however, only 25 state laws cover clinical-trial related medical costs for non-Medicare patients, and these offer less protection than the federal law. A lawyer explains these findings in a special article published online March 2 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

DALLAS, March 2, 2010 — Frequent exposure to environmental tobacco smoke among 13-year-olds is associated with an increased risk of future blood vessel hardening and greater risks of other heart disease factors, according to new research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association.

DALLAS, March 2, 2010 — A standard test of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is linked to significant thought-processing problems that improve for most patients within a year after the device is inserted, according to research reported in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Lalana Kagal and fellow researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a standard policy language to achieve flexible and dynamic Web security when information is shared between agencies, countries and organizations.

The research, funded under the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program, supports recent Ph.D. graduates and encourages basic research like that of Kagal and her team members, Fatih Turkmen and Matt Cherian.

Two studies by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reveal new details of the mechanisms of ion channel inactivation. The papers appear in the March issue of The Journal of General Physiology (www.jgp.org).