Body

HOUSTON -- Twice weekly acupuncture treatments relieve debilitating symptoms of xerostomia - severe dry mouth - among patients treated with radiation for head and neck cancer, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the current online issue of Head & Neck.

DENVER – Genetic variations in the inflammation pathway may predict who would respond to Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment and who might experience a recurrence among patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

DENVER - Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered genetic variations in the inflammation pathway that reduce the likelihood of recurrence and increase survival of patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who are treated with mainstream therapy.

DENVER – Donald O'Rourke, MD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues, were able to accurately predict the specific genetic mutation that caused brain cancer in a group of patients studied using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers presented their findings this week at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

For almost 20 years, pharmacological companies have known that certain compounds that activate two specific CNS receptors, causing them to release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, are effective in treating the cognitive and motor problems related to both schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Boston, MA -- Strong evidence developed at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and elsewhere shows that sugary drinks are an important contributor to the epidemic rise of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States. Faced with these growing public health threats, experts from the Department of Nutrition at HSPH believe beverage manufacturers, government, schools, worksites and homes must take action to help Americans choose healthier drinks.

CHICAGO (April 20, 2009) – New research published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests that, among surgeons inexperienced in laparoscopic techniques, closing incisions using robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS) requires less time to learn and results in improved outcomes compared with suturing done via traditional, "open" surgery or with freehand laparoscopy.

CHICAGO (April 20, 2009) – New research published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicates that large numbers of physician assistants and nurse practitioners – collectively known as physician extenders (PEs) – have been hired by general surgery residency programs in the last five years to enable the resident education experience, and these professionals continue to be in demand. Most have been hired in response to work-hour restrictions imposed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in 2003.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 20, 2009 -- Scientists at Harvard University have found that tropical cyclones readily inject ice far into the stratosphere, possibly feeding global warming.

The finding, published in Geophysical Research Letters, provides more evidence of the intertwining of severe weather and global warming by demonstrating a mechanism by which storms could drive climate change. Many scientists now believe that global warming, in turn, is likely to increase the severity of tropical cyclones.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Veterans exposed to Agent Orange are at increased risk of aggressive recurrence of prostate cancer, researchers report.

Mites not only inhabit the dust bunnies under the bed, they also occupy the nests of tropical sweat bees where they keep fungi in check. Bees and their young are healthier when mites live-in, report researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and the University of Texas at Austin. Mutually beneficial cleaning relationships have been documented for shrimps and fish that eat parasites on larger fish, but this is the first confirmation of a cleaning relationship between two different species on land.

Genomic regulatory blocks have unique features that may explain their ability to respond to regulatory inputs from very long distances, according to a special thematic series of companion articles from the FANTOM4 consortium. This research, to be published across a number of BioMed Central's open access journals, including Genome Biology and BMC Bioinformatics, provide further insight into HCNE (highly conserved non-coding element) mediated long-range gene regulation at the core of animal multicellularity regulation.

Transcatheter valve implantation is a newly developed technique for the curative treatment of high-grade aortic stenosis. It is likely to be of benefit especially to elderly, multimorbid patients for whom the risk of open heart surgery would be too great. The initial results obtained with this technique at the German Heart Center in Munich are presented in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International by Sabine Bleiziffer and her colleagues (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(14): 235-41).

Ice ages are the greatest natural climate changes in recent geological times. Their rise and fall are caused by slight changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun due to the influence of the other planets. But we do not know the exact relationship between the changes in the Earth's orbit and the changes in climate. New research from the Niels Bohr Institute indicates that there can be changes in the CO2 levels in the atmosphere that suddenly reach a critical turning point and with that trigger the dramatic climate changes.