Body

Does alcohol consumption affect the risk for Parkinson's disease?

Amsterdam, NL, November 10, 2015 - For many years, researchers have been investigating whether there are any associations between Parkinson's disease (PD) and lifestyle choices such as smoking and coffee and alcohol consumption. In a review published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, the literature concerning alcohol consumption presents conflicting information.

New vaccine could prevent high cholesterol

Amsterdam, November 10, 2015 - A new cholesterol-lowering vaccine leads to reductions in 'bad' LDL cholesterol in mice and macaques, according to research published in Vaccine. The authors of the study, from the University of New Mexico and the National Institutes of health in the United States, say the vaccine has the potential to be a more powerful treatment than statins alone.

College football linemen face greater risk of heart problems

ORLANDO, Florida, Nov. 10, 2015 -- College freshmen who play football linemen positions may face a greater risk of specific heart problems than other players, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Session 2015.

Researchers analyzed the effect of playing American football on the heart in 87 college athletes from pre-season to post-season and found:

Obese kids young as age 8 show signs of heart disease

ORLANDO, Florida, Nov. 10, 2015 -- Imaging tests of obese children -- some as young as 8 years old -- showed signs of significant heart disease and heart muscle abnormalities, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

Comparing 20 obese kids with 20 normal-weight kids, researchers found that obesity was linked to 27 percent more muscle mass in the left ventricle of their hearts and 12 percent thicker heart muscles - both signs of heart disease.

Weight loss and lipid improvements sustained 8 years after surgery

Eight years after having gastric bypass surgery as teenagers, patients continue to have significant weight loss and improvement in their lipid profiles.

In a study to be presented Nov. 10 at the annual American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center found that body mass index decreased by 32 percent. In addition, the percent of participants with dyslipidemia (elevated cholesterol, triglycerides or both) decreased from 85.7 percent at baseline to 38.3 percent after eight years.

Lung cancer surgery can be beneficial for high-risk patients with early stage disease

Chicago, 10 November 2105 - Surgical lung resection, in which part of a lung is removed, can be a safe and effective treatment option for high-risk patients with early stage lung cancer, according to an article posted online by the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

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A treasure trove of new cancer biomarkers

Biomarkers, which allow diseases to be diagnosed and staged based on relatively non-invasive blood tests, have been identified for several types of cancers, but for most cancers remain elusive. Now, research conducted at the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies (CLST) in Japan and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Australia has identified a large number of genes that are upregulated in many different types of cancer, opening the door for developing biomarker tests that could be used to detect cancers early, allowing for prompt treatment.

Black mouse-eared bat goes green: First case of a fruit-eating bat in the largest genus

Out of more than 110 allegedly well-studied mouse-eared bat species, there turns out to be one that has been keeping its diet a mystery. Belonging to the largest group of bats, known to be feeding on insects exclusively, the widely common Black mouse-eared bat (Myotis nigricans) is found to also seek fruits.

Science Bulletin published a special topic on 'stem cell, basis and application'

Stem cells sustain the capacity of self-renewal and differentiation into specialized cells, offering exciting promises in both basic and applied research. As an example of an applied purpose, stem cells can be used as a resource in regenerative medicine for generation of appropriate cell types in cell replacement therapy, which has been becoming a new pillar of human therapeutics.

Pancreatic cancer: CD44 protein induces metastases

Due to their rapid metastatic spread, pancreatic tumors are among the most aggressive types of cancer. Only three to five percent of patients have a survival rate of five years. A team of KIT researchers has now established the basis for new therapeutic approaches. In the Gastroenterology journal they report that in various pancreatic cancer mouse models CD44v6-specific peptides do not only inhibit the spread of tumor cells, but may even lead to the regression of already existing metastases. (DOI 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.10.020).

New method IDs up to twice as many proteins and peptides in mass spectrometry data

An international team of researchers developed a method that identifies up to twice as many proteins and peptides in mass spectrometry data than conventional approaches. The method can be applied to a range of fields, including clinical settings and fundamental biology research for cancer and other diseases. The key to the new method's improved performance is its ability to compare data to so-called spectral libraries--essentially a pattern-matching exercise--rather than individual spectra or a database of sequences.

Wheat disease-resistance gene identified, potential to save billions

A gene that can prevent some of the most important wheat diseases has been identified--creating the potential to save more than a billion dollars in lost production in Australia alone each year.

An effective integrated reproductive strategy for hearing loss by researches from China

Hearing impairment is a major public health problem in the world, affecting over 5% of the world's population - 360 million people, including 328 million adults and 32 million children. Professor WANG Qiuju and her group from Institute of Otolaryngology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, cooperating with Professor CHEN Zi-Jiang from Center for Reproductive Medicine of Shandong University and, BGI, set out to tackle the transmission of hearing loss by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), and noninvasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD).

Online tracking more common than most realize, finds new study

Think of how often sit with your phone, tablet, or computer, quietly shopping or reading the latest headlines. Browsing the internet certainly feels like a solitary activity, but as a new study in the International Journal of Communication reveals, you may be surprised by just how many companies are observing.

Researchers develop antibiotic alternative for wound infections

PULLLMAN, Wash.--Washington State University researchers for the first time have discovered how electrical stimulation works for the treatment of bacterial infections, paving the way for a viable alternative to medicinal antibiotics.

The researchers passed an electric current over a film of bacteria and in 24 hours killed almost all of a multi-drug resistant bacterium that is often present in difficult-to-treat infections. The remaining bacterial population was 1/10,000th of its original size.