Body

CHICAGO --- Lifetime risk for heart failure is similar for blacks and whites and higher than expected for both groups -- ranging from 20 to 45 percent -- according to a new Northwestern Medicine® study.

"This is a bad news scenario for both race groups," said Northwestern Medicine researcher Mark Huffman, M.D., the first author of the study. "With lifetime risks this high, heart failure prevention is paramount for all Americans."

ORLANDO, Fla., April 2, 2013 – Many recent studies have suggested that obesity is associated with chronic inflammation in fat tissues. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) have discovered that an imbalance between an enzyme called neutrophil elastase and its inhibitor causes inflammation, obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease. This enzyme is produced by white blood cells called neutrophils, which play an important role in the body's immune defense against bacteria.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A team of UC Davis scientists has found that a product resulting from a metabolized omega-3 fatty acid helps combat cancer by cutting off the supply of oxygen and nutrients that fuel tumor growth and spread of the disease.

The scientists report their discovery in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The groundbreaking study was a collaboration among multiple UC Davis laboratories and Harvard University.

Our emotional responses to the stresses of daily life may predict our long-term mental health, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Psychological scientist Susan Charles of the University of California, Irvine and colleagues conducted the study in order to answer a long-standing question: Do daily emotional experiences add up to make the straw that breaks the camel's back, or do these experiences make us stronger and provide an inoculation against later distress?

Recent efforts by the Canadian government to curb the time allowed for environmental reviews over fears of adverse impact on economic development are misguided and unnecessary, according to research by scientists at the University of Toronto. Instead, the federal government's tinkering will only weaken environmental protection and not expedite economic growth.

The researchers found that most environmental regulatory reviews were already being completed within the arbitrary timeframes laid out in the 2012 legislation restricting the reviews of new developments.

Increases in ground-level ozone, especially in rural areas, may interfere not only with predator insects finding host plants, but also with pollinators finding flowers, according to researchers from Penn State and the University of Virginia.

"Ozone pollution has great potential to perniciously alter key interactions between plants and animals," the researchers said in a recent issue of Environmental Research Letters.

Prostate cancer doesn't kill in the prostate – it's only once the disease travels to bone, lung, liver, etc. that it turns fatal. Previous studies have shown that loss of the protein E-Cadherin is essential for this metastasis. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry describes for the first time a switch that regulates the production of E-Cadherin: the transcription factor SPDEF turns on and off production, leading to metastasis or stopping it cold in models of prostate cancer.

Tonsillectomy may result in fewer severe sore throats and could benefit some adult patients, according to a randomized trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Recurrent severe sore throats result in lost work or school days and frequent use of antibiotics.

Organ donation in Ontario is significantly less common at large general hospitals than at hospitals with clinical programs for transplant recipients, which points to missed opportunities to optimize organ donation, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder, affecting about one-third of older adults, and currently there is no cure. A study published by Cell Press April 2nd in the Biophysical Journal reveals how the nanoscale biomechanical properties of cartilage at joints change at the earliest stages of osteoarthritis, making the tissue more prone to damage during fast physical activities. The findings could improve early detection of the disease as well as tissue engineering strategies to repair damaged cartilage in patients.

In the new study, Apte and his team found that macrophages taken from both old mice and human AMD patients had low levels of ABCA1, a cholesterol transporter known to move cholesterol out of the cells. As a result, these old macrophages accumulated high levels of cholesterol and were unable to inhibit the growth of new blood vessels. In order to restore cholesterol transport, the researchers focused on two key cholesterol regulators: Liver X Receptor (LXR), whose activation is known to promote cholesterol efflux, and microRNAs-33, which has been shown to directly decrease ABCA1 expression.

New findings in mitochondrial biology thoroughly change the idea scientists had for 20 years on the role and importance of the protein MTERF1. For the first time, Max Planck researcher Mügen Terzioglu and her colleagues in Germany and Sweden investigated in vivo what was up to now only explored in cell culture. Using the mouse as a model organism, she made a surprising discovery: MTERF1 does after all not play the key role in mitochondrial transcription and translation that was hitherto ascribed to it.

Apte, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and his team found that macrophages, from old mice and in patients with macular degeneration, have inadequate levels of the protein, called ABCA1, which transports cholesterol out of cells. As a result, the old macrophages accumulated high levels of cholesterol and couldn't inhibit the growth of the damaging blood vessels that characterize the "wet" form of the disorder.

Philadelphia, Pa. (April 2, 2013) – Persistent breast enlargement (gynecomastia) negatively affects self-esteem and other areas of mental and emotional health in in adolescent males, reports the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Tragedies involving children, such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School, fuel massive outrage and calls for immediate action to prevent similar atrocities. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has put forward a National Shield School Proposal which supports the placement of armed security in all schools. A new review by Gordon and Angela Crews from Marshall University in West Virginia and Catherine Burton from The Citadel in South Carolina attempts to find a balanced and unbiased view of the facts within this heated and emotional debate.