Body

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

DALLAS – July 8, 2008 – An analysis of more than 100 patients has confirmed for the first time that darker-skinned patients benefit as those with lighter skin when given light therapy for morphea and related diseases, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers show.

Phototherapy is the use of ultraviolet light to treat skin disorders, ranging from common problems such as acne and psoriasis to rarer conditions such as scleroderma and morphea, a hardening of the skin.

Barcelona, Spain: Using ultrasound to measure the height of a woman's uterus is a good way to predict whether or not she is at risk of having babies born prematurely if she becomes pregnant with twins after IVF, according to new research presented at the 24th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona today (Wednesday).

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Even though cigarette smoking accounts for up to half of all bladder cancer cases, few people are aware of the connection – including more than three-quarters of patients who have bladder cancer, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

This knowledge vacuum suggests that urologists and other physicians need to do a much better job of telling patients about the risk of smoking and encourage them to quit, the study authors say.

The effective treatment of many forms of cancer continues to pose a major problem for medicine. Many tumours fail to respond to standard forms of chemotherapy or become resistant to the medication. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, the Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Leibniz-Universität (LUH) in Hanover have now discovered a chemical mechanism with which a natural substance - argyrin - destroys tumours. Today, the researchers publish their findings in the renowned scientific journal Cancer Cell.

Even contact lenses are joining the trend to go green.

Chemical engineering researchers at McMaster University have shown that a common fluid found in our bodies can be used as a natural moisturizing agent in contact lenses.

This is a step up from the current wave of self-moisturizing contact lenses that use synthetic materials as a wetting agent to prevent eye dryness and increase wearer comfort.

Alexandria, Va.—A study conducted in Sweden found that more than 40 percent of widowers in that country whose wives died from cancer four or five years earlier reported they were either never told that their spouse's cancer was incurable, or they heard this information during the last week of her life. Eighty-six percent of widowers believed next-of-kin should be told immediately when a wife's cancer is incurable, including 71 percent of the men who did not recall being told this information.

A major international study involving the University of Adelaide, Australia, has shown that intervention is needed in South-East Asia to improve the health of pregnant women and their babies and prevent child and mother mortality.

The study - published in the international online journal PLoS ONE (www.plosone.org) - shows that while some best care practices have been implemented in hospitals in South-East Asia, a number of worrying practices remain and more needs to be done to improve mothers' and babies' health.

Men who take up cycling in an effort to stay fit, do their bit for the environment or avoid spiralling motoring costs, could be harming their health if they don't choose the right bicycle. That's the stark warning from consultant urological surgeon Mr Vinod Nargund from St Bartholomew's and Homerton Hospitals, London, in the urology journal BJU International.

He says that the problems to look out for include genital numbness, erection problems and soreness and skin irritations in the groin area.

Dementia is one of the major challenges of the 21st century due to the enormous burden these disorders impose on health care systems. Recently, common pathways of the two most frequent causes of dementia, Alzheimer´s disease and vascular dementia have been suggested. Today there is tremendous interest in developing effective treatments that will interfere with some step in the disease cascade or even prevent the clinical onset of dementia. In the absence of effective therapies, it is essential that all potentially reversible causes of dementia be fully investigated.

Nashville, Tenn. – July 7, 2008 – A new article indicates that an increased intake in minerals such as potassium, and possibly magnesium and calcium by dietary means may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and decrease blood pressure in people with hypertension. A high intake of these minerals in the diet may also reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. These findings are published in a supplement appearing with the July issue of The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.

Organic-based devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes, require a transparent conductive layer with a high work function, meaning it promotes injection of electron holes into an organic layer to produce more light.

Employers globally are facing challenges and needs posed by baby-boom generation employees. A new Penn State study of 208 U.S. employers found a wide range of strategies used to recruit and retain older workers, rather than a single approach.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Three plant biologists at Rutgers' Waksman Institute of Microbiology are obsessed with duckweed, a tiny aquatic plant with an unassuming name. Now they have convinced the federal government to focus its attention on duckweed's tremendous potential for cleaning up pollution, combating global warming and feeding the world.

This enterprise builds upon Rutgers' burgeoning energy and environmental research and the important contributions Waksman Institute scientists have already made to plant genomics, including the sequencing of rice, sorghum and corn.