Body

CHICAGO – In an examination of the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the U.S. by race and sex, black men and women had twice the rate of fatal CHD compared with white men and women, with this increased risk associated with a greater prevalence of CHD risk factors, according to a study appearing in November 7 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease. The study is being released early online to coincide with the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions.

How women think their friends feel about their bodies influences their own body concerns, according to a new study by Dr. Louise Wasylkiw and Molly Williamson from Mount Alison University in Canada. Their work, which examines the role of friends in young women's body concerns, is published online in Springer's journal Sex Roles.

Several substances inhibiting so-called HDAC enzymes have been studied in trials searching for new anti-cancer drugs in recent years. "Trials have shown that HDAC inhibitors are very effective in arresting growth of cultured cancer cells. But apart from a very rare type of lymphoma, these drugs unfortunately do not clinically affect malignant tumors," says Prof. Dr. Olaf Witt, who heads a research department at DKFZ and is pediatrician at the Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine of Heidelberg University Hospital.

The majority of patients on the liver transplant waitlist who died received offers of high-quality donated livers that were declined prior to their death, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Therefore, efforts other than simply increasing the availability of donated livers or the number of offers are needed to substantially reduce the deaths among those waiting for a transplant.

For the first time, genetically engineered tomato plants produced a peptide that mimics the actions of good cholesterol when eaten, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

In the study, mice that ate the freeze-dried, ground tomatoes had less inflammation and reduced atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries).

An intravenous infusion of good cholesterol could reduce the risk of a subsequent heart attack, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

In a small, early study, researchers noted that an intravenous infusion of the chief protein in high density lipoprotein (HDL or "good" cholesterol) seems to rapidly boost the body's ability to move cholesterol out of plaque-clogged arteries,

Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have led a study published in PLoS One showing that the inhibition of a family member of NADPH oxidase enzyme, NOX4, plays an important role in liver fibrosis.

The researchers studied the function of a cytokine called transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in the pathophysiology of the liver, which is one of the main research lines of the Biological Clues of the Invasive and Metastatic Phenotype research group at the IDIBELL, leaded by Isabel Fabregat.

The patients have single short fingers (metacarpals) and toes (metatarsals) and can be restricted in growth due to a shortened skeleton. This hereditary disease is called brachydactyly type E (Greek for short fingers). Three years ago Dr. Philipp G. Maass from the research group of Professor Friedrich C. Luft at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch, has discovered an epigenetic mechanism, which, when dysregulated, causes this condition.

Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of the most common genetic disorders, affecting one in every 1,000 people and responsible for up to ten percent of patients on dialysis worldwide. The disease is characterized by the development of cysts that lead to progressive kidney failure and necessitate dialysis or a kidney transplant in most patients aged around fifty. Moreover, the persistent cyst growth causes high blood pressure and painful complications.

Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists in San Antonio have developed a faster, less expensive route to screen suitable tests for bioterror threats and accelerate the application of countermeasures.

The new process screens for pairs of affinity reagents – molecular magnets that bind to and hold on to their targets, be they toxins, viruses or bacteria. That will enable countermeasures to be selected and utilized much faster than the current practice.

Adults with diabetes and multi-vessel coronary heart disease who underwent cardiac bypass surgery had better overall heart-related outcomes than those who underwent an artery-opening procedure to improve blood flow to the heart muscle, according to the results from an international study. The research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

A study estimating the death rate from heart and circulatory disease in each electoral ward in England has found that despite considerable improvements since the 1980s, the difference between the wealthiest and poorest communities has widened for people over 65.

Mortality from heart and circulatory disease – the leading cause of death in the UK – declined in most places between 1982 and 2006, but for men and women aged 65 or older, the decline was smaller in the most deprived communities, resulting in a wider gap between rich and poor.

ADDIS ABABA (5 NOVEMBER 2012)—A new book finds that the Nile river, together with its associated tributaries and rainfall, could provide 11 countries—including a new country, South Sudan, and the drought-plagued countries of the Horn of Africa—with enough water to support a vibrant agriculture sector, but that the poor in the region who rely on the river for their food and incomes risk missing out on these benefits without effective and inclusive water management policies.

LOS ANGELES – A crowdsourcing contest that sent hundreds of Philadelphians to locate and catalog the locations of AEDs throughout the nation's fifth largest city led to the identification of more than 1,400 automated external defibrillators in public places, according to a study from researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012 (Abstract #17478).

Participants in a "crowdsourcing" challenge in Philadelphia used a smart phone application to locate, photograph and map more than 1,400 automated external defibrillators in public places, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

Crowdsourcing is when the public conducts tasks traditionally done by a company, individual or a group with special skills.