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An international team spearheaded by researchers from the University of Copenhagen has identified the genes that put some children at particularly high risk of serious asthma attacks, including one not previously suspected of being implicated in the disease. In the long term, these new findings are expected to help improve treatment options for the disease, which represents a high cost for families and society alike.

Two billion years ago the Earth system was recovering from perhaps the single-most profound modification of its surface environments: the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans. This led to a series of major changes in global biogeochemical cycles, as a team around Aivo Lepland of the Norwegian Geological Survey NGU reports in the latest online edition of "Nature Geoscience".

Chicago – Seth S. Martin, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, Baltimore, and colleagues developed a method for estimating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels that is more accurate than the standard measure.

Chicago – Jose Augusto Barreto-Filho, M.D., Ph.D., of the Federal University of Sergipe and the Clinica e Hospital Sao Lucas, Sergipe, Brazil, and colleagues assessed procedure rates and outcomes of surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) among 82,755,924 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries between 1999 and 2011.

Cancer treatment takes a toll on the hearts of child survivors, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death among U.S. children, but the rate of survival has increased significantly from a 5-year survival rate of 58.1 percent in 1975-77 to 83.1 percent in 2003-09.

Heart disease is the leading cause of women's pregnancy-related deaths in California — but nearly one-third could be prevented, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

Maternal death rates have been increasing in California and the United States since the mid-1990s, according to statistics from the California Department of Public Health.

Children's congenital heart defects may be associated with their mothers' exposure to specific mixtures of environmental toxins during pregnancy, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

Congenital heart defects occur when the heart or blood vessels near the heart don't develop normally before birth. Defects may be caused by chromosomal abnormalities, but the cause is unknown in most cases.

A study of almost 400 former elite male athletes shows that former status as an elite athlete reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later life by 28%. The research appears in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and is by Dr Merja Laine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues.

BOSTON –Laboratory testing is health care's single highest volume activity, with over 5 billion tests performed each year in the U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Ten years after a transplant, a cornea from a 71-year-old donor is likely to remain as healthy as a cornea from a donor half that age, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Corneas from donors over age 71 perform slightly less well, but still remain healthy for the majority of transplant recipients after 10 years, the study found.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Researchers from the Cardiovascular Institute at Rhode Island, The Miriam and Newport hospitals will present 22 abstracts, both poster and oral presentations, at the upcoming American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, to be held in Dallas November 16-20, 2013. Scientific Sessions is the foremost cardiovascular research meeting in the U.S., with more than 18,000 cardiovascular experts from more than 105 countries in attendance.

An arrest in cell proliferation, also referred to as cellular senescence, occurs as a natural result of aging and in response to cellular stress. Senescent cells accumulate with age and are associated with many aging phenotypes, and removal of these cells by the immune system is important for preventing cancer and other disorders. The tumor suppressor p53 coordinates a signaling network that is important for cell arrest. p53 is produced as various isoforms as the result of alternative splicing and promoter usage.

Successful gene therapy is based on the effective delivery and maintained expression of healthy copies of a gene into tissues of individuals with a disease-associated genetic mutation. Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors have shown promise in early clinical trials as effective therapies for several genetic diseases, including Leber congenital amaurosis, Parkinson disease, and hemophilia. Unfortunately, delivery of rAAV vectors to tissues other than the retina and CNS often results in development of an immune response against the viral capsid.

STANFORD, Calif. — Processes that age and damage skin are impeded by dilute bleach solution, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The study was conducted on mice. But if shown to work similarly in humans, the inexpensive, widely available household chemical could provide a new way to treat skin damage caused by radiation therapy, excess sun exposure or aging.