Body

Westchester, Ill.—A study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that the subjective interpretation of temperature change is decreased in older adults, particularly those who suffer from insomnia.

Westchester, Ill.— A study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that objectively measured heavy snoring is an independent risk factor for early carotid atherosclerosis, which may progress to be associated with stroke.

In a study of 110 adults, the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis was 20 percent with mild snoring, 32 percent with moderate snoring and 64 percent with heavy snoring. After adjustment for age, gender, smoking history and hypertension, heavy snoring was significantly associated with carotid atherosclerosis.

Bethesda, MD (September 1, 2008) – Non-invasively measuring liver stiffness with transient elastography accurately diagnoses patients with late-stage liver disease, reports a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Sept. 1, 2008 – Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) today announced a new approach to treating endometrial cancer patients that not only stops the growth of tumors, but kills the cancer cells.

In a potentially major breakthrough, TGen scientists and collaborators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discovered that introducing a particular inhibitor drug can turn "off'' receptors responsible for the growth of tumors in a significant number of patients with endometrial cancer.

(PHILADELPHIA)—Researchers at The Wistar Institute have deciphered the structure of the active region of telomerase, an enzyme that plays a major role in the development of nearly all human cancers. The landmark achievement opens the door to the creation of new, broadly effective cancer drugs, as well as anti-aging therapies.

Researchers have attempted for more than a decade to find drugs that shut down telomerase—widely considered the No. 1 target for the development of new cancer treatments—but have been hampered in large part by a lack of knowledge of the enzyme's structure.

Researchers have discovered two new genes that increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in childhood.

STANFORD, Calif. - The fight against the liver disease hepatitis C has been at something of an impasse for years, with more than 150 million people currently infected, and traditional antiviral treatments causing nasty side effects and often falling short of a cure. Using a novel technique, medical and engineering researchers at Stanford University have discovered a vulnerable step in the virus' reproduction process that in lab testing could be effectively targeted with an obsolete antihistamine.

Bipolar disorder is one of the most important psychiatric diseases, often associated with considerable treatment needs and tremendous social and occupational burden for both the individual and family (Pini et al., 2005). Previously also labelled manic-depressive illness, bipolar disorder is typically referred to as an episodic, yet lifelong and clinically severe mood (or affective) disorder.

HAMILTON – August 31, 2008 -- An international study led by Canadian researchers has found that telmisartan, a medication used to lower blood pressure, reduced the outcome of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke in people who are unable to tolerate a widely available and effective standard treatment.

DALLAS – Aug. 31, 2008 – Many nursing mothers who have been hospitalized for breast abscesses are afflicted with the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, but according to new research by UT Southwestern Medical Center physicians, conservative treatment can deal with the problem.

The study focused on hospitalized women with mastitis, and showed that MRSA was much more likely to be found in those who had both mastitis (an inflammation of the milk glands) and abscesses (pockets of infection).

DALLAS – Aug. 29, 2008 – The age-old advice to routinely clean out earwax is discouraged under the first published guidelines from health care professionals about removing wax from the ear.

A Johns Hopkins research team reports it may have an explanation for at least some of the higher organ rejection rates seen among black - as compared to white - kidney transplant recipients.

In a study of 50 healthy adult men, 25 black and 25 white, significantly different amounts of certain immune system cells were found between the races.

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered the earliest form of humanblood stem cells and deciphered the mechanism by which these embryonicstem cells replicate and grow. They also found a surprising biologicalmarker that pinpoints these stem cells, which serve as the progenitorsfor red blood cells and lymphocytes.

In May 2006, an agreement was reached by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Beverage Association on voluntary sales restrictions on "competitive foods" such as soft drinks at schools. However, researchers at Pardee Rand Graduate School say limiting the availability of soft drinks at school may not be enough to affect overall consumption among elementary school children.

PHILADELPHIA –- A new study by University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Jason Schnittker shows that, while more Americans believe that mental illness has genetic causes, the nation is no more tolerant of the mentally ill than it was 10 years ago.

The study published online in the journal Social Science and Medicine uses a 2006 replication of the 1996 General Social Survey Mental Health Module to explore trends in public beliefs about mental illness in America, focusing in particular on public support for genetic arguments.