Body

Research: Weight gain in smokers after quitting cigarettes: meta-analysis

Editorial: Quitting smoking and gaining weight: the odd couple

Giving up smoking is associated with an average weight gain of 4-5 kg after 12 months, most of which occurs within the first three months of quitting, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

Although this figure is higher than previously thought, an accompanying editorial argues that the health benefits of quitting far outweigh this modest gain in body weight and should not deter people from quitting.

Is it possible to cut HIV transmission by using antiretroviral treatment? A collection of new articles published in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine, in conjunction with the HIV Modelling Consortium, addresses this pressing question.

The PLoS Medicine articles provide insights into the feasibility of interventions, their potential epidemiological impact and affordability, and recent scientific observational studies and community trials, which will support evidence-based decision-making on the use of antiretroviral treatment to prevent HIV transmission.

A new study published in the July 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience details the development of the first mouse model engineered to carry the most common mutation in Usher syndrome III causative gene (Clarin-1) in North America. Further, the research team from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine used this new model to understand why mutation in Clarin-1 leads to hearing loss.

CHICAGO – In studies examining the risk of adverse outcomes after receipt of the influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, infants exposed to the vaccine in utero did not have a significantly increased risk of major birth defects, preterm birth, or fetal growth restriction; while in another, study researchers found a small increased risk in adults of the nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre syndrome, during the 4 to 8 weeks after vaccination, according to 2 studies in the July 11 issue of JAMA.

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is usually characterized by rapidly developing motor weakness and areflexia (the absence of reflexes). "The disease is thought to be autoimmune and triggered by a stimulus of external origin. In 1976-1977, an unusually high rate of GBS was identified in the United States following the administration of inactivated 'swine' influenza A(H1N1) vaccines. In 2003, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that the evidence favored acceptance of a causal relationship between the 1976 swine influenza vaccines and GBS in adults.

Among intermediate- to high-risk patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, administration of the agent acadesine to regulate adenosine (a naturally occurring chemical that dilates blood flow and can improve coronary blood flow and perfusion) did not reduce all-cause death, nonfatal stroke, or need for mechanical support for ventricular dysfunction, for approximately a month after surgery, according to a study in the July 11 issue of JAMA.

Patients who had surgery for periampullary cancer (a variety of types of cancer that are located in and near the head of the pancreas, including an area called the ampulla where the bile duct joins up with the pancreatic duct to empty their secretions into the upper small intestine) and received chemotherapy had a statistically significant survival benefit, compared to patients who did not receive chemotherapy, after adjusting for prognostic variables, according to a study in the July 11 issue of JAMA.

DURHAM, N.C. – A drug designed to shield the heart from injury during bypass surgery failed to reduce deaths, strokes and other serious events among patients at high risk of complications, according to a large, prospective study lead by researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

But the international study also produced a surprising silver lining. As reported in the July 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers discovered that complications among bypass surgery patients were far less frequent than previously reported.

COLLEGE STATION, July 10, 2012 – The common barnyard chicken could provide some very un-common clues for fighting off diseases and might even offer new ways to attack cancer, according to a team of international researchers that includes a Texas A&M University professor.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Most people killed or wounded in stray-bullet shootings were unaware of events leading to the gunfire that caused their injuries, and nearly one-third of the victims were children and nearly half were female, according to a new nationwide study examining an often-overlooked form of gun violence.

URBANA – A new strategy to manage invasive species and achieve broader conservation goals is being tested in the Grand River Grasslands, an area within the North American tallgrass prairie ecoregion. A University of Illinois researcher along with his colleagues at Iowa State and Oklahoma State Universities enlisted private landowners in a grassroots community-building effort to establish a more diverse landscape for native wildlife.

• Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that promotes the growth and spread of cancer.
• The mechanism involves a new role for small regulatory molecules called microRNA.
• The findings suggest a new strategy for treating cancer and perhaps diseases of the immune system.

Epidemiologists have determined that levels of hepatitis C virus (HCV) found among injection drug users (IDUs) were higher in individuals who are male or African American even after differences in other factors were considered. The study, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute and performed with collaborators from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and the University of California - San Francisco, was the first to simultaneously examine the association of demographic, viral and human genetic factors on HCV RNA levels.

President Barack Obama has one. Comedian Stephen Colbert has one. Elvis Presley has one. Even computer software magnate Bill Gates has one. And now, Bob Marley--the late popular Jamaican singer and guitarist--also has one. So what is it that each of these luminaries have? The answer: they each have a biological species that has been named after them.

New Rochelle, NY, July 9, 2012—More than half (52%) of the companies comprising the tissue engineering (TE) and stem cell industries are revenue-generating, compared to about 21% four years ago, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN).