Body

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An international team of researchers has found a genetic variation they say protects against Parkinson's disease. The gene variants cut the risk of developing the disease by nearly 20 percent in many populations. The study published in Lancet Neurology also reports the discovery of different variants of the same gene, LRRK2— the most important Parkinson's risk gene found to date — that double Parkinson's risk in Caucasians and Asians.

Researchers at King's College London have discovered how coral produces natural sunscreen compounds to protect itself from damaging UV rays, leading scientists to believe these compounds could form the basis of a new type of sunscreen for humans.

The team has begun to uncover the genetic and biochemical processes behind how these compounds are produced and eventually hope to recreate them synthetically in the laboratory for use in developing sun protection.

The 'organic' marketing machine and its spurious claims that expensive organic fruits and vegetables are safer because the toxic pesticides in use are 'natural' has no scientific support. Worse, by promoting such unfounded fears to boost their profits, organic industry marketing is keeping healthy fruits and vegetables from those with low incomes, because organic companies try to imply synthetic pesticides in ordinary supermarket food can cause more cancer.

In dengue-endemic areas such as South-East Asia, in contrast to conventional thinking, rural areas rather than cities may bear the highest burden of dengue fever—a viral infection that causes sudden high fever, severe headache, and muscle and joint pains, and can lead to a life-threatening condition, dengue hemorrhagic fever.

In the conclusion to a three-part series of articles addressing the current challenges and opportunities for the development of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR), Sara Bennett of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore USA and colleagues lay out an agenda for action to help build the field: 1) local actors, including policy-makers and researchers, must have a greater say in determining the nature of HPSR conducted; 2) a better shared understanding of theoretical frames and methodological approaches for HPSR, including journals, methods training, and teaching

The digestive system is home to a myriad of viruses, but how they are involved in health and disease is poorly understood. In a study in Genome Research, researchers have investigated the dynamics of virus populations in the human gut, shedding new light on the gut "virome" and how it differs between people and responds to changes in diet.

Researchers investigated the dynamics of the gut virome during perturbations to diet. The group studied six healthy volunteers—some received a high fat and low fiber diet, others a low fat and high fiber diet, and one an ad-lib diet.

A new technique to tame the malaria parasite forces it to depend on an external supply of a vital chemical. The scientists have, in effect, created a domesticated strain of Plasmodium, the one-celled parasite that causes malaria, that would no longer cause this dreaded disease.

Exposure during pregnancy to flame retardant chemicals commonly found in the home is linked to lower birthweight babies, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health.

In the American Journal of Epidemiology study, researchers found that every tenfold increase in levels of PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, in a mother's blood during pregnancy corresponded to a 115 gram (4.1 ounce) drop in her baby's birthweight.

When the body fights oxidative damage, it calls up a reservist enzyme that protects cells – but only if those cells are relatively young, a study has found.

Biologists at USC discovered major declines in the availability of an enzyme, known as the Lon protease, as human cells grow older.

The finding may help explain why humans lose energy with age and could point medicine toward new diets or pharmaceuticals to slow the aging process.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Child & Family Research Institute have shown that parental stress during their children's early years can leave an imprint on their sons' or daughters' genes – an imprint that lasts into adolescence and may affect how these genes are expressed later in life.

Los Angeles, CA (August 29, 2011) According to new research which studies educational programs in Bahrain, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, information and communication technology (ICT) is not effectively utilized in classrooms in the Middle East. The new article "Promoting the Knowledge Economy in the Arab World," published in the open access journal SAGE Open, discusses the need for a deeper institutional reform that will bring Arab classrooms into the 21st century.

More and more, patients show up to appointments with hypertension expert John Bisognano, M.D., Ph.D. carrying bags full of "natural" products that they hope will help lower their blood pressure. And like most physicians, Bisognano doesn't always know if these products will do any good, or if they will cause any harm.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- More than 150 cases of measles have been reported in the United States already this year and there have been similar outbreaks in Europe, a sign the disease is making an alarming comeback. The reappearance of the potentially deadly virus is the result of unfounded fears about a link between the measles shot and autism that have turned some parents against childhood vaccination, says Gregory Poland, M.D. (http://www.mayoclinic.org/bio/10966366.html), of Mayo Clinic.

Soy has recently been reviewed and supported for introduction into general medical practice as a treatment for distressing vasomotor symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, but its use in other medical areas, such as heart health, requires further research, according to a new report reviewing the risks and benefits of soy protein, isoflavones and metabolites in menopausal health from The North American Menopause Society (NAMS)/Wulf H. Utian Translational Science Symposium, published in the July Menopause, the peer-reviewed NAMS journal.

INDIANAPOLIS – Analysis by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers of ten years of scientific studies has resulted in changes in American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for how initial urinary tract infection in infants and toddlers is diagnosed and treated. This change will affect thousands of children every year.