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Religious people more prone to obesity: Study explores link

A new study has shown that people who frequently attend religious services are significantly more likely to become obese by the time they reach middle age. The finding is surprising especially considering that religious people tend to be in better health than others, said study author Matthew J. Feinstein, a medical student at Northwestern University in Chicago. Feinstein said, “It highlights a particular group that appears to be at a greater risk of becoming obese and remaining obese…It's a group that may benefit from targeted anti-obesity interventions and from obesity prevention programs.”

24 Mar 2011

DNA "end-caps" length linked to diabetes risk: New role for short telomeres

New evidence has emerged from studies in mice that short telomeres or “caps” at the ends of chromosomes may predispose people to age-related diabetes, according to Johns Hopkins scientists.

24 Mar 2011

New study provides insights into epiboly mechanisms linked with wound healing, cancer

Avian embryos could join the list of model organisms used to study a specific type of cell migration called epiboly, thanks to the results of a study published this month in the journal Developmental Dynamics.

24 Mar 2011

Brain's pleasure and reward circuitry gets a big boost after a sleepless night

A sleepless night can make us cranky and moody. But a lesser known side effect of sleep deprivation is short-term euphoria, which can potentially lead to poor judgment and addictive behavior, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.

24 Mar 2011

Dopamine agonists used in treatment of Parkinson's disease may lead to impulse control disorders

Mayo Clinic researchers found that dopamine agonists used in treating Parkinson's disease result in impulse control disorders in as many as 22 percent of patients.

24 Mar 2011

Protein α-myosin could be a promising therapeutic target for myocarditis

Myocardits is an inflammation of the heart muscles that is a major cause of heart failure in young patients. In some cases, the disease is caused by viral infection, but in other patients it is linked to an autoimmune attack on the heart muscle. There are few effective treatment options for myocarditis, in part because the molecular mechanisms that underlie the defect are poorly defined.

24 Mar 2011

Gut bacteria and state of immune system influence personality

Researchers at McMaster University discovered that the "cross-talk" between bacteria in our gut and our brain plays an important role in the development of psychiatric illness, intestinal diseases and probably other health problems as well including obesity.

24 Mar 2011

Oral contraceptive use before pregnancy does not pose respiratory problems in children

A new study by researchers at RTI International, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health refutes previous findings that oral contraceptive use before pregnancy is linked to respiratory problems in children.

24 Mar 2011

Contrast agent for tumor diagnostics

X-rays are not the only way: visible and especially infrared light can also be used to image human tissue. The effectiveness of optical imaging processes can be significantly improved with suitable dyes used as contrast agents. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team led by Wenbin Lin at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, USA) has now introduced a novel contrast agent that marks tumor cells in vitro. The dye is a phosphorescent ruthenium complex incorporated into nanoparticles of a metal–organic coordination polymer, which allows an extraordinarily high level of dye loading.

23 Mar 2011

Ansell announces substantial price increase for NRL medical gloves

Following a continued increase of raw materials costs, Ansell Medical Solutions Europe, the regional branch of the world leader in hand protective solutions for healthcare professionals, has announced substantial price increases for its entire range of NRL medical gloves.

23 Mar 2011

Biologists decipher molecular code regulating availability of brain channel linked to neuronal excitability

A key question in protein biochemistry is how proteins recognize "correct" interaction partners in a sea of cellular factors. Nowhere is that more critical to know than in the brain, where interactions governing channel protein activity can alter an organism's behavior.

23 Mar 2011

Early smoking onset linked to higher risk of cannabis use

Young people who start smoking at an early age have a much higher risk of starting to use cannabis by the time they turn 17. Risk factors that increase the likelihood of starting to smoke include externalising problem behaviours such as impulsiveness. Smoking, in turn, is a significant risk factor for cannabis use. These results have been confirmed in a project researching smoking at an early age and externalising behaviour as predictors of drug use.

23 Mar 2011

Genetic errors in women linked to increased risk of preeclampsia

Scientists have identified genetic errors in women with autoimmune diseases that increase the risk of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs in 10 percent of all pregnancies.

23 Mar 2011

Larger hippocampal volume linked with recovery of PTSD

The hippocampus, a brain region implicated in memory and interpreting environmental contexts, has been the focus of a controversy in posttraumatic stress disorder.

22 Mar 2011

Scientists receive £200,000 AICR grant for stomach cancer research

Scientists in Australia have been awarded almost £200,000 from an international charity, based in Scotland, towards their research into a 'forgotten cancer.'

22 Mar 2011

Stress can change balance of gut bacteria

Stress can change the balance of bacteria that naturally live in the gut, according to research published this month in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

22 Mar 2011

City Of Hope opens new center for diabetes research and care

City of Hope has established a new Diabetes Research Center that will expand its pioneering investigations into diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases, create an infrastructure to support translational research and enhance clinical care for diabetes and its related complications.

22 Mar 2011

Study identifies gene linked to higher risk of multiple sclerosis in children

Canadians have one of the highest rates of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the world with approximately 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Primarily striking in adulthood, physicians and researchers with the Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Diseases Network (CPDDN), a multi-institutional and multidisciplinary group, have found that MS is being increasingly diagnosed in children.

21 Mar 2011

Study unravels molecular mechanism of biomolecule RNA that plays dynamic regulatory role in protein selection

If a big bunch of your brain cells suddenly went rogue and decided to become fat cells, it could cloud your decision-making capacity a bit. Fortunately, early in an organism's development, cells make firm and more-or-less permanent decisions about whether they will live their lives as, say, skin cells, brain cells or, well, fat cells.

21 Mar 2011

Researchers discover 'broad spectrum' cancer suppressor gene

Portuguese researchers have discovered a "broad spectrum" cancer suppressor gene - called LRP1B - which acts by removing proteins crucial for cancer development from the tumour environment. The fact that LRP1B does not act on the tumour itself (in this study thyroid tumours) but, instead, on molecules which are known to be important to many different cancers is what makes it so interesting.

21 Mar 2011