Body

Eating fatty fish and marine omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, seems to protect men from heart failure according to one of the largest studies to investigate the association.

However, the effect was seen only in men who eat approximately one serving of fatty fish a week and who had a moderate intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids (approximately 0.3 grams a day). Eating more did not give a greater benefit and, in fact, returned the chances of heart failure to the same level as that seen in men who never consume fatty fish or fish oils.

Timing and whether a transplant coordinator makes the request are key factors in whether relatives consent to organ donation, according to a study published on bmj.com today.

Demand for organs far exceeds supply and in the UK this results in one patient on the transplant waiting list dying every day. One of the biggest barriers to increased donor rates is the refusal of consent by relatives.

Rifampin (RMP), a first-line antituberculosis drug, reaches serum concentrations well below suggested lower limits when a standard dose of 8-12mg/kg body weight is given to children. A pharmacokinetic study, published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, suggests that a higher dose of 10-20mg/kg may be more appropriate.

The extent to which sexual harassment from males can damage relationships between females is revealed in a study published today (Wednesday 22 April). Led by the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the research uncovers the effect of sexual harassment on the ability of female fish to form social bonds with each other.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside biologists researching the behavior of field crickets have found for the first time that female crickets remember attractive males based on the latter's song, and use this information when choosing mates.

The researchers found that female crickets compare the information about the attractiveness of available males around them with other incoming signals when selecting attractive males for mating.

April 21, 2009 – (BRONX, NY) – Recurrent and metastatic endometrial and ovarian cancers can be notoriously difficult to treat: They have spread to other organs and typically have developed resistance to chemotherapy; and patients already heavily treated with chemotherapy may not be able to endure more chemo. Now, physicians at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown that a combination of two chemotherapy drugs not only produced clinical benefit for such patients but were also well tolerated.

Laboratory and epidemiological studies continue to show that sleep curtailment and/or decreased sleep quality can disturb neuroendocrine control of appetite, leading to overeating, and can decrease insulin and/or increase insulin resistance, both steps on the road to Type 2 diabetes.

On April 22, at the Experimental Biology 2009 meeting in New Orleans, a panel of leading sleep researchers describes recent and new studies in this fast growing field. The session is part of the scientific program of the American Association of Anatomists (AAA).

Boston, MA—Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found a link between a mother's height and the health of her children in a study using national data from India.

DURHAM, N.C. –- Just seeing a salad on the menu seems to push some consumers to make a less healthy meal choice, according a Duke University researcher.

It's an effect called "vicarious goal fulfillment," in which a person can feel a goal has been met if they have taken some small action, like considering the salad without ordering it, said Gavan Fitzsimons, professor of marketing and psychology at Duke's Fuqua School of Business, who led the research.

Using a topical application of the antioxidant ellagic acid, researchers at Hallym University in the Republic of Korea markedly prevented collagen destruction and inflammatory response – major causes of wrinkles -- in both human skin cells and the sensitive skin of hairless mice following continuing exposure to UV-B, the sun's skin-damaging ultraviolet radioactive rays.

DENVER – Researchers may have found a way to combine imaging with chemotherapy in a single agent for the treatment of prostate cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

"It's like a smart bomb, to use a military analogy," said John P. Sedelaar, Ph.D., M.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins University. "By retooling chemotherapy agents, we may be able to get more accurate treatment monitoring and follow-up."

DENVER – Meat cooked at high temperatures to the point of burning and charring may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

Kristin Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, said the finding was linked to consumption of well and very well done meats cooked by frying, grilling or barbecuing. Cooking in this way can form carcinogens, which do not form when meat is baked or stewed.

DENVER – Walnut consumption may provide the body with essential omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols that reduce the risk of breast cancer, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine, said that while her study was done with laboratory animals rather than humans, people should heed the recommendation to eat more walnuts.

DENVER – Pre-diagnostic wine consumption may reduce the risk of death and relapse among non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, according to an epidemiology study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

Xuesong Han, the first author of the abstract and a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, said their findings would need to be replicated before any public health recommendations are made, but the evidence is becoming clearer that moderate consumption of wine has numerous benefits.

Scientists at the Omics Science Center (OSC) of the RIKEN Yokohama Institute in Japan – along with researchers from McGill University and other institutions worldwide – are challenging current notions of how genes are controlled in mammals. Three years of intensive research by members of the international FANTOM consortium will culminate with the publication of several milestone scientific papers in Nature Genetics and other journals on April 20.