Body

Certain mutated cells keep trying to replicate their DNA — with disastrous results — even after medications rob them of the raw materials to do so, according to new research from USC.

New imaging techniques allowed scientists to see for the first time that while chemotherapy drugs shut down the DNA replication process of most cancer cells, so-called "checkpoint mutants" just keep chugging along, unwinding the DNA and creating damaged DNA strands that can result in the kind of abnormalities seen in cancer cells.

MINNEAPOLIS – Pregnant women who have higher levels of vitamin D in their blood may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than women with lower levels, while their babies may not see the same protective effect, according to a study published in the November 20, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

CHICAGO --- The largest study of physician-treated children with psoriasis around the world shows children with the skin disease are about twice as likely to be overweight or obese as children who don't have the disease, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

And US children with psoriasis have much higher odds than psoriatic children in other countries of being obese or overweight.

CHICAGO – Unemployment, multiple job losses and short periods without work may be associated with increased risk for acute myocardial infarction (AMI, heart attack), according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Many adults in the United States are affected by the strain of employment instability, but little is known about the cumulative effect of multiple job losses and unemployment on the risks for AMI, according to the study background.

CHICAGO – Chronic pain in parents appears to be associated with chronic nonspecific pain and chronic multisite pain in adolescents and young adults, according to a study published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Chronic nonspecific pain among children and adolescents is common and young people with chronic pain can experience disabilities and difficulties in life. However, the causes of chronic nonspecific pain are poorly understood, according to the study background.

CHICAGO – A study of children in nine countries found that psoriasis in children was associated with an increased risk for overweight and obesity, regardless of psoriasis severity, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Dermatology, a JAMA Network publication.

"Adults with psoriasis have an increased risk of obesity, myocardial infarction, stroke and diabetes mellitus," the authors write as background in the study. "Recent studies also suggest the association of psoriasis with obesity in children."

CHICAGO – Safety-net hospitals appear to provide head and neck cancer surgical care to a vulnerable population, without an increase in short-term mortality, morbidity, or costs, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, a JAMA Network publication.

"Safety-net hospitals provide a disproportionate amount of care to those who are uninsured or underinsured, including Medicaid beneficiaries and other vulnerable populations, compared with the average hospital," according to background information in the article.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (November 19, 2012)—Although patients may feel anxious waiting weeks from the time of their first doctor visit to evaluate their breast until they have breast cancer surgery, new findings from Fox Chase Cancer Center show that these waits are typical in the United States. Results were published on Monday, November 19 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that children born to mothers who smoked more than one pack per day during pregnancy struggled on tests designed to measure how accurately a child reads aloud and comprehends what they read.

The findings are published in the current issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.

PHILADELPHIA— Medical physicists at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center are one step closer to bringing a new tumor-tracking technique into the clinic that delivers higher levels of radiation to moving tumors, while sparing healthy tissue in lung cancer patients.

STANFORD, Calif. — Pluripotent stem cells are nature's double-edged sword. Because they can develop into a dizzying variety of cell types and tissues, they are a potentially invaluable therapeutic resource. However, that same developmental flexibility can lead to dangerous tumors called teratomas if the stem cells begin to differentiate out of control in the body.

Chimpanzees and orangutans can experience a mid-life crisis just like humans, a study suggests.

This is the finding from a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, that set out to test the theory that the pattern of human well-being over a lifespan might have evolved in the common ancestors of humans and great apes.

WASHINGTON -- A research team at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center say the new and powerful cells they first created in the laboratory a year ago constitute a new stem-like state of adult epithelial cells. They say these cells have attributes that may make regenerative medicine truly possible.

The first in-depth investigation of whether youthful happiness leads to greater wealth in later life reveals that, even allowing for other influences, happy adolescents are likely to earn more money as adults.

Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (UCL Political Science) and Professor Andrew Oswald (University of Warwick) analysed data from 15,000 adolescents and young adults in the USA, finding that those who report higher 'positive affect', which is a technical measure of happiness, or higher 'life satisfaction' grow up to earn significantly higher levels of income later in life.

Pittsburgh, PA…An international team of researchers, including Carnegie Museum of Natural History scientist John Wible, has resolved the evolutionary relationships of Necrolestes patagonensis, whose name translates into "grave robber," referring to its burrowing and underground lifestyle. This much-debated fossil mammal from South America has been a paleontological riddle for more than 100 years.