Body

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana University School of Medicine study has determined that a patient's socioeconomic status has more influence than race on physician diagnosis of whether a child's injury was accidental or caused by abuse.

Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for rescuing skinned knees on the playground and coaxing their children to sleep with lullabies. Now they're gaining merit for their offspring's physical health in middle age.

URBANA – Could preventing colon cancer be as simple as developing a taste for yerba mate tea? In a recent University of Illinois study, scientists showed that human colon cancer cells die when they are exposed to the approximate number of bioactive compounds present in one cup of this brew, which has long been consumed in South America for its medicinal properties.

A healthy genome is characterized by 23 pairs of chromosomes, and even a small change in this structure — such as an extra copy of a single chromosome — can lead to severe physical impairment. So it's no surprise that when it comes to cancer, chromosomal structure is frequently a contributing factor, says Prof. Ron Shamir of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For the 26 million Americans with diabetes, drawing blood is the most prevalent way to check glucose levels. It is invasive and at least minimally painful. Researchers at Brown University are working on a new sensor that can check blood sugar levels by measuring glucose concentrations in saliva instead.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – January 23, 2012 – Researchers in the Netherlands assessed the quality of colonoscopy reporting in daily clinical practice and evaluated the quality of colonoscopy performance. They found that colonoscopy reporting varied significantly in clinical practice. Colonoscopy performance met the suggested standards, however, considerable variability between endoscopy departments was found.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Land and marine iguanas and giant tortoises living close to human settlements or tourist sites in the Galápagos islands are more likely to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria than those living in more remote or protected sites on the islands, researchers report in a new study.

Higher than normal levels of lead in the blood may signal a risk two times higher than average of developing renal cell carcinoma in smokers, according to medical researchers.

"Past studies (in cadavers) have shown that, compared with kidneys from individuals without cancer, kidneys from individuals with cancer have higher lead levels," said Emily B. Southard, medical student at Penn State College of Medicine. "But prior to this study, the identification of higher lead in blood as a risk factor among healthy individuals before they develop kidney cancer had not been shown."

Mate competition by males over females is common in many animal species. During mating season male testosterone levels rise, resulting in an increase in aggressive behavior and masculine features. Male bonobos, however, invest much more into friendly relationships with females. Elevated testosterone and aggression levels would collide with this increased tendency towards forming pair-relationships.

January 23, 2012 – (BRONX, NY) – Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein, have found a biomarker in head and neck cancers that can predict whether a patient's tumor will be life threatening. The biomarker is considered particularly promising because it can detect the level of risk immediately following diagnosis.

(Boston)-- An international team of researchers from the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and other institutions has uncovered 13 genetic loci, linked to immune function and DNA repair, that are factors in the age of onset of menopause.

Menopause -- the cessation of reproductive function of the ovaries -- is a major hormonal change that affects most women when they are in their early 50s. Most prior studies of the age of onset of menopause have focused on genes from the estrogen-production pathway or vascular components.

A group of researchers led by the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB) and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have achieved to quantify with precision the effect of protein aggregation on cell aging processes using as models the Escherichia coli bacteria and the molecule which triggers Alzheimer's disease. Scientists demonstrated that the effect can be predicted before it occurs. Protein aggregation is related to several diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases.

Charlottesville, VA -- This time of year parents in northern regions bundle up their children in preparation for winter activities. In addition to layers of warm clothing, gloves, and boots, parents often use whatever athletic headgear is available to mitigate the potential hazards of winter sports and play. Currently no helmets are specifically designed to protect children's heads from the stresses and forces that may be encountered in activities such as tobogganing and ice skating.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, — High blood pressure (hypertension) is a principal risk factor for heart disease and affects 1 billion people. At least half of them are estimated to be salt-sensitive; their blood pressure rises with sodium intake. New research released today [Jan. 22] shows important aspects of how sodium and potassium are regulated in the kidney.