Body

FINDINGS: UCLA researchers and colleagues analyzed data for 2,213 women between the ages of 42 and 52 who participated in the bone sub-study of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation to determine whether women with vasomotor symptoms (VMS) — which include hot flashes and night sweats — had lower bone mineral density.

Philadelphia, PA, 6 May 2009 – Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep apnea (CSA) are not markedly decreased in heart failure (HF) patients managed with beta-blockers and spironolactone, reports a study in the March issue of Journal of Cardiac Failure (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cardfail), published by Elsevier. The study, "Prevalence and Physiological Predictors of Sleep Apnea in Patients with Heart Failure and Systolic Dysfunction," was authored by Dai Yumino, Hanqiao Wang, John S. Floras, Gary E.

DURHAM, N.C. – Heart attack patients who develop serious arrhythmia in connection with procedures to open blocked arteries face a significantly higher risk of death for several months after the procedure, when compared to similar patients who do not develop such complications, according to new research from Duke University Medical Center.

"The findings suggest that we should take another look at how we've been assessing the importance and the impact of these episodes," says Christopher Granger, M.D., a cardiologist at the Duke Heart Center and the senior author of the study.

This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-05/jaaj-ihr050109.php">Chinese.

CHICAGO – Certain heart attack patients who experience a rapid, abnormal heart rhythm before or after a coronary artery intervention or stent placement have a significantly higher risk of death within 90 days of the procedure, according to a study in the May 6 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO – Preliminary research suggests that higher than normal levels of the protein albumin in urine is associated with an increased risk for blood clots in the deep veins of the legs or lungs (venous thromboembolism; VTE), according to a study in the May 6 issue of JAMA.

"No two people are alike." Yet when we consider the thousands of genes with frequent differences in genetic composition among different people, it is remarkable how much alike we are.

Uniformity, or singleness of form, is not unique to humans but a general property of life. Biologists have long pondered how this feature is produced in the face of such great variation in genetics as well as environmental conditions.

NEW YORK (May 5, 2009) – A common misconception about arterial plaque is that it inevitably leads to a heart attack or a stroke. New research at Columbia University Medical Center, however, sheds light on why so few plaques in any given individual actually cause a problem. Furthermore, the research has identified a key protein that may promote the conversion from benign to dangerous plaques.

By lending them a gene normally reserved for other classes of animals, researchers have shown they can rescue flies from their Parkinson's-like symptoms, including movement defects and excess free radicals produced in power-generating cellular components called mitochondria. The gene swap also protects healthy flies' mitochondria, and to a large extent the flies themselves, from the damaging effects of cyanide and other toxins, the team reports in the May issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication.

Researchers say they have evidence to explain what separates your average blood vessel plaque from those that are at high risk for triggering the development of dangerous—even fatal—blood clots. The findings in the May issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, suggest that drugs designed to tackle a form of cellular stress might be useful in treating heart disease, which is the number one killer and getting worse, according to the researchers.

Sharing a meal in good company can stimulate the appetite – particularly among hospitalized seniors – according to a new Université de Montréalstudy published in The Gerontologist.

"The more social interaction occurs at mealtimes in hospital geriatric re-adaptation units the better food intake will be," says Danielle St-Arnaud McKenzie.

STANFORD, Calif. — Even cells aren't immune to peer pressure. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now shown that skin cells can be coaxed to behave like muscle cells — and muscle cells like skin cells — solely by altering who they hang out with: the relative levels of the ingredients inside the cell.

The fickleness of the cells, and the relative ease with which they make the switch, provide a glimpse into the genetic reprogramming that must occur for a cell to become something it's not.

The Stowers Institute's Hawley Lab and Molecular Biology Facility have developed a "whole-genome sequencing approach" to mapping mutations in fruit flies. The novel methodology promises to reduce the time and effort required to identify mutations of biological interest. The work was published in the May issue of the journal GENETICS.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – When an ant dies in an ant nest or near one, its body is quickly picked up by living ants and removed from the colony, thus limiting the risk of colony infection by pathogens from the corpse.

The predominant understanding among entomologists – scientists who study insects – was that dead ants release chemicals created by decomposition (such as fatty acids) that signal their death to the colony's living ants.

CLEVELAND – May 5, 2009 – A study by the division of global child health at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine cautions adoptive parents not to rely solely on vaccination records when gauging their internationally adopted children's immunizations.

HOUSTON - A newly discovered gene known as DEAR1 is mutated in breast cancer and is an independent predictor of local recurrence-free survival in early-onset breast cancer, a research team headed by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the journal PLoS Medicine.