Body

Judging from the number of juices and teas advertised as containing antioxidants, consumers are aware of the dangers of oxidative stress. But what is the best way to measure it – and fight it?

Doctors at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a substance in the blood that may be useful in predicting an individual's risk for heart disease.The substance is cystine, an oxidized form of the amino acid cysteine and an indirect measure of oxidative stress.

GALVESTON, Texas — The aorta, the body's largest artery, stretches from the chest to below the kidneys, expanding and contracting with the pressure of blood driven directly into it by the heart. Although its walls are extraordinarily strong, like other blood vessels the aorta can sometimes develop bulges, called aneurysms.

Targeting the normal cells that surround cancer cells within and around a tumor is a strategy that could greatly increase the effectiveness of traditional anti-cancer treatments, say researchers at The Wistar Institute.

New antibiotics for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other pesky bacteria. Andrei Osterman and collaborators have used comparisons of bacterial genomes to identify new targets for antibiotics and produced first-generation chemical inhibitors of a class of bacterial enzymes, called NadDs (nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferases). Described in a recent article in Chemistry & Biology (Cell Press), the team, led by Dr.

DALLAS – Nov. 16, 2009 – As the number of deaths related to the pandemic H1N1 virus, commonly known as "swine flu," continues to rise, researchers have been scrambling to decipher its inner workings and explain why the incidence is lower than expected in older adults.

Patients with coronary heart disease who practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation® technique had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to nonmeditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009.

Risk of bladder cancer for smokers has increased since the mid-1990s, with a risk progressively increasing to a level five times higher among current smokers in New Hampshire than that among nonsmokers in 2001-2004, according to a new study published online November 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Furthermore, researchers found that among individuals who smoked the same total number of cigarettes over their lifetime, smoking fewer cigarettes per day for more years may be more harmful than smoking more cigarettes per day for fewer years.

Americans without health insurance appear more likely to die following admission to the hospital for trauma than those with health care coverage, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

More than a year and a half following the first near-total face and upper jaw transplant, the donor tissue appears successfully integrated, according to a report in the November/December issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The recipient has experienced no long-term rejection and has regained some functional abilities, including her senses of smell and taste.

Despite a national focus on reducing surgical errors, surgery-related adverse events continue to occur both inside and outside the operating room, according to an analysis of events at Veterans Health Administration Medical Centers published in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A combination of imaging tests conducted six to eight weeks after patients complete chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancer may help identify patients who will respond to treatment and those who will require surgical follow-up, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

SPRINGFIELD, MA – While previous studies have indicated a "probable" connection between smoking and ALS, a new study published in the Nov. 17, 2009 issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, states that smoking may now be considered an "established" risk factor for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

PHILADELPHIA – Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that a dietary antioxidant found in such vegetables as broccoli and cauliflower protects cells from damage caused by chemicals generated during the body's inflammatory response to infection and injury. The finding has implications for such inflammation-based disorders as cystic fibrosis (CF), diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegeneration.

Healthy, older adults free of heart disease need not fear that bouts of rapid, irregular heartbeats brought on by vigorous exercise might increase short- or long-term risk of dying or having a heart attack, according to a report by heart experts at Johns Hopkins and the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA).

Researchers say such fears surfaced after previous studies found that episodes of errant heart rhythms, more formally known as non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, more than double the chance of sudden death in people who have already suffered a heart attack.

Oil from soybeans modified through biotechnology increased levels of omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in red blood cells according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.

"This soybean oil could be an effective alternative to fish oil as a source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids," said William Harris, Ph.D., lead author of the study and chief of cardiovascular health research at Sanford Research/USD and professor of medicine at Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, S.D.