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New evidence published on BMJ.com today shows that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can improve the health related quality of life of older women.

HRT guidelines should be reviewed in light of this evidence, say the authors.

Previous research has suggested that HRT can improve general quality of life (the way patients feel or function) and reduce the number and severity of symptoms associated with the menopause, but these studies have used general rather than more sensitive condition specific measures.

Feelings of happiness and optimism play a positive role against breast cancer. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Cancer suggests that while staying positive has a protective role, adverse life events such as the loss of a parent or close relative, divorce or the loss of a spouse can increase a woman's risk of developing the disease.

A major international study of the effects of HRT use on quality of life has shown that HRT use can significantly improve well-being in women with menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats. The results of the WISDOM study will be published on BMJ.com on Friday 22 August 2008 (note embargo details above). This study looked at health-related quality of life in 5692 healthy women aged 50-69 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Two independent research groups have found that simultaneous inhibition of two signaling pathways resulted in substantially enhanced antitumor effects in mouse models of prostate and breast cancer. In an accompany commentary, Steven Grant, at Virginia Commonwealth University Health Science Center, Richmond, discusses the clinical importance of these studies and highlights some of the questions that still need to be answered.

BOSTON – Nearly a decade ago, while it was being tested as an immunosuppressive agent to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, the drug rapamycin was also discovered to have anti-tumor properties. Since then, several rapamycin analogs known as mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) inhibitors have been tested in clinical trials for the treatment of various types of cancer.

But despite promising early results, mTOR inhibitors have proven less successful than originally expected.

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Dangerous disease often spreads faster than it takes to diagnose it in the lab. To remedy that, researchers at Kansas State University have developed a test to bring that time from days down to hours.

Sanjeev Narayanan, assistant professor, and Greg Peterson, research microbiologist, both in the department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, use a device called a DNA spotted microarray to seek out the specific genetic markers that set one pathogen apart from another and determine antibiotic resistance.

They have worked for almost seven years in secret.

Most people did not know that the work in Ray Goehner's materials characterization department at Sandia National Laboratories was contributing important information to the FBI's investigation of letters containing bacillus anthracis, the spores that cause the disease anthrax. The spores were mailed in the fall of 2001 to several news media offices and to two U.S. senators. Five people were killed.

Palisades, N.Y., August 21, 2008--A study by a group of prominent seismologists suggests that a pattern of subtle but active faults makes the risk of earthquakes to the New York City area substantially greater than formerly believed. Among other things, they say that the controversial Indian Point nuclear power plants, 24 miles north of the city, sit astride the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones.

HOUSTON, Aug. 21, 2008 – Noise can be irritating and possibly harmful for everything from mice to humans – and maybe even 60-foot whales in the Gulf of Mexico.

DALLAS – Aug. 21, 2008 – Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a potential new way to stop the bacteria that cause gastroenteritis, tularemia and severe diarrhea from making people sick.

The researchers found that the molecule LED209 interferes with the biochemical signals that cause bacteria in our bodies to release toxins.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The origin of the Tahitian vanilla orchid, whose cured fruit is the source of the rare and highly esteemed gourmet French Polynesian spice, has long eluded botanists. Known by the scientific name Vanilla tahitensis, Tahitian vanilla is found to exist only in cultivation; natural, wild populations of the orchid have never been encountered.

MADISON -- For Charles Darwin, the problem of the peacock's tail, in light of his theory of natural selection, was vexing in the extreme.

Indeed, in 1860, writing to Asa Gray, his most ardent American champion, Darwin confessed: "The sight of a feather in a peacock's tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!"

A security system wired within every cell to detect the presence of rogue viral DNA can sometimes go awry, triggering an autoimmune response to single-stranded bits of the cell's own DNA, according to a report in the August 22nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The source of that single-stranded DNA is so-called endogenous retroelements—genetic elements accounting for a substantial portion of the genome that can move to new locations using a "copy and paste" mechanism, according to the researchers.

A stable form of cell-cycle arrest known to offer potent protection against cancer also limits liver fibrosis, a condition characterized by an excess of fibrous tissue, according to a new report in the August 22nd Cell, a Cell Press publication. Triggered by chronic liver damage produced by hepatitis infection, alcohol abuse, or fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis can lead to cirrhosis, a major health problem worldwide and the 12th most common cause of death in the United States.