Body

Hospital associated infections (HAI) are often in the headlines, but what is the burden of mortality, morbidity and costs due to HAIs? In this week's PLoS Medicine, Marlieke de Kraker, Peter Davey and Hajo Grundmann, on behalf of the BURDEN (Burden of resistance and disease in European nations) study group, report the results of a prospective clinical investigation into the societal burden of HAIs from 31 European countries.

Cleveland: Men who take a daily vitamin E supplement – a regimen once thought to reduce cancer risk – face an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to results of a large national study.

The finding comes from a report summarizing the latest results of the Selenium andVitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). Eric Klein, M.D., chair of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic, is the lead author.

In this week's PLoS Medicine, James C. Engert of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and Sonia S. Anand, of McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada and colleagues, on behalf of the INTERHEART investigators, show that the genetic risk for cardiovascular disease conferred by several single nucleotide polymorphisms in the Chromosome 9p21 region may be decreased in individuals who consume a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables.

Rewrite the textbooks and revisit old experiments, because there's a new cog in our cellular machinery that has been discovered by researchers from the University of Alberta and the University of Cambridge Institute for Medical Research.

Hamilton, ON -- A long-held mantra suggests that you can't change your family, the genes they pass on, or the effect of these genes. Now, an international team of scientists, led by researchers at McMaster and McGill universities, is attacking that belief.

The researchers discovered the gene that is the strongest marker for heart disease can actually be modified by generous amounts of fruit and raw vegetables. The results of their study are published in the current issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.

CHICAGO -- In a trial that included about 35,000 men, those who were randomized to receive daily supplementation with vitamin E had a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer, according to a study in the October 12 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO -- Use of folic acid supplements by women in Norway in the period 4 weeks before to 8 weeks after conception was associated with a reduced risk of the child having severe language delay at age 3 years, according to a study in the October 12 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO -- Among women with a certain type of high-grade ovarian cancer, having BRCA2 genetic mutations, but not BRCA1, was associated with improved overall survival and improved response to chemotherapy, compared to women with BRCA wild-type (genetic type used as a reference to compare genetic mutations), according to a study in the October 12 issue of JAMA.

Men who took 400 international units (I.U.) of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers compared to men who took a placebo, according to an updated review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). The findings showed that, per 1,000 men, there were 76 prostate cancers in men who took only vitamin E supplements, vs. 65 in men on placebo over a seven-year period, or 11 more cases of prostate cancer per 1,000 men. This represents a 17 percent increase in prostate cancers relative to those who took a placebo.

Using a laser to remove wires connecting implanted pacemakers and defibrillators to the heart is as safe in people age 80 or older as it is in younger patients, according to research reported in Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal.

"We wanted to know if age was a risk factor in this procedure, and if octogenarians fare as well as younger patients," said Roger G. Carrillo, M.D., senior study author and chief of surgical electrophysiology at the University of Miami Hospital in Florida. "We found no difference in risk."

HOUSTON - Women with high-grade ovarian cancer live longer and respond better to platinum-based chemotherapy when their tumors have BRCA2 genetic mutations, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Institute for Systems Biology report in the Oct. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

ITHACA, N.Y. — People experience the world through five senses but sharks, paddlefishes and certain other aquatic vertebrates have a sixth sense: They can detect weak electrical fields in the water and use this information to detect prey, communicate and orient themselves.

2,4-D is coming back. What many might consider a "dinosaur" may be the best solution for growers fighting weed resistance today, said Dean Riechers, University of Illinois associate professor of weed physiology.

"Farmers can't imagine going back to 2,4-D or other auxin herbicides," Riechers said. "But herbicide resistance is bad enough that companies are willing to bring it back. That illustrates how severe this problem is."

AURORA, Colo. (Oct. 11, 2011) – Researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center have developed a test that identifies key biomarkers in advanced lung cancer that helped reduce the risk of death by 36 percent over a 30- month period in a recent clinical trial.

AMES, Iowa – In the two years since Iowa State University's Adam Bogdanove, along with student Matthew Moscou, published their groundbreaking gene research in the cover story of the journal Science, researchers around the world have built on those findings to explore further breakthroughs.

Science has published another article by Bogdanove in the Sept. 30 issue that updates the scientific community on where the research has been since 2009 and where it is heading.