X linked News and Research

RSS

G proteins could help fight cardiovascular, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer

New data on signalling proteins, called G proteins, may prove important in fighting diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. For many decades scientists have puzzled on "How signalling proteins transport and organize in specific areas of the cell?" Researchers from Nano-Science Center and Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen provide yet unrecognized clues to solve this mystery.

21 Sep 2009

NIDDK grants HealthPartners Research Foundation $7.3M to study childhood obesity

Three new HealthPartners Research Foundation studies will examine ways to prevent and treat childhood obesity and hypertension. One study will look at interventions to prevent obesity in children ages 5-9, another will focus on obesity prevention in children ages 2-5, while another will examine hypertension in children and adolescents, including the quality and cost of care.

21 Sep 2009

New report explores the management of pregnancy and depression

A new report from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which is published by Elsevier in the September-October 2009 issue of General Hospital Psychiatry (http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ghp/home), explores the management of pregnancy and depression.

21 Sep 2009

GI cancer detection simpler and cost-effective with new blood tests

Berlin, Germany: Promising results from two new blood tests that can aid in the early identification of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers will be presented at Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 - ESMO 34 [1], in Berlin today (Monday September 21). The tests will make GI cancer detection simpler, cost-effective, and more acceptable to patients than current methods, the researchers say.

21 Sep 2009

A new study links 45,000 deaths a year to lack of insurance

Researchers find that 45,000 deaths a year can be linked to the lack of health insurance. But, some question the study's merits. CBS News reports that the study was conducted by a team "that tracked more than 9,000 people for up to 13 years, comparing the health of those with insurance to those without. After factoring in education and income, smoking, drinking and obesity, researchers found that the uninsured had about a 40 percent higher risk of death, linking 45,000 American deaths a year to lack of insurance. In 1993 it was 25 percent" (Axelrod, 9/17).

21 Sep 2009

Alcoholism in Hispanics dependent on gene/environment interaction

Hispanics with alcohol-induced problems - especially male Mexican Americans - have significantly worse health and welfare than those with other ethnic backgrounds. This study examined the influence of gene/environment interaction on alcoholism among Mexican Americans. Researchers have found that interaction between education and a polymorphism of the reward gene contribute to severe alcoholism among Mexican Americans.

21 Sep 2009

Study reveals that KCNE2 and KCNQ1 mutations can results in thyroid dysfunction

Genes previously known to be essential to the coordinated, rhythmic electrical activity of cardiac muscle -- a healthy heartbeat -- have now also been found to play a key role in thyroid hormone (TH) biosynthesis, according to Weill Cornell Medical College researchers.

21 Sep 2009

Four single-letter variations in SNPs increse prostate cancer risk

deCODE genetics (Nasdaq: DCGN) today announced that a team of its scientists and academic colleagues from Finland, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States have today published the discovery of four novel single-letter variations in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) conferring increased risk of prostate cancer.

21 Sep 2009

Study reveals that GI cancer can be diagnosed using blood tests

...

21 Sep 2009

Young drinkers to be more susceptible to alcohol dependence

The age at which a person takes a first drink may influence genes linked to alcoholism, making the youngest drinkers the most susceptible to severe problems.

21 Sep 2009

Industrial biotechnology can reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The WWF report Industrial biotechnology – more than green fuel in a dirty economy?, which has been published today, concludes that industrial biotechnology can provide dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and provide strong progress toward a green and sustainable economy.

18 Sep 2009

HHS Secretary announces a funding opportunity for communities and tribes

Creating ways for healthful lifestyle habits to be the natural first choice for Americans is the goal of a $650 million initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, decrease obesity, and decrease smoking in U.S. communities.

18 Sep 2009

U.S. healthcare system fraught with racial inequalities

Racial inequalities in health care access and quality added more than $50 billion a year in direct U.S. health care costs over a four-year period according to a study released today by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

18 Sep 2009

Study reveals that low invadolysin could reduce fat storage in lipids

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that the protein invadolysin, which is essential for healthy cell division, is present in lipid droplets - the parts of cells used to store fat.

18 Sep 2009

Insulin metabolism regulates body's internal clock

While scientists have known for several years that our body's internal clock helps regulate many biological processes, researchers have found that the reverse is also true: Many common biological processes - including insulin metabolism - regulate the clock, according to a new study by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the University of California at San Diego.

18 Sep 2009

PSC activation mechanisms help develop novel therapeutic approaches for pancreatic fibrosis

Fibrosis is a key feature of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The extensive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins fosters the development of an exocrine and endocrine organ insufficiency, and accelerates progression of the tumour. Pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) are the principal effector cells in pancreatic fibrosis. They are activated by profibrogenic mediators, which include, for example, cytokines and ethanol metabolites.

18 Sep 2009

Protein aggregation is linked to many conformational diseases

Researchers at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have revealed the process by which proteins with a tendency to cause conformational diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, familial amyloidotic cardiomyopathy, etc. finally end up causing them.

17 Sep 2009

Study: HBV genotype is not linked to hepatocellular carcinoma

Previous studies revealed that HBV genotypes as well as mutations in the core promoter, precore or HBx gene have been shown to have an association with the clinical outcome of liver disease, however, this is still controversial. It is likely that this depends on the HBV genotype distribution in certain region.

17 Sep 2009

New CLF survey on the unawareness of Canadians in contracting food-related illnesses

A new survey from the Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF) reveals more than half of Canadians over the age of 25 (57 per cent) are concerned about contracting food-related illnesses like hepatitis A, but many are unaware that their everyday food preparation and consumption habits may put them at risk for this liver disease

17 Sep 2009

Some Dems push back on Obama's proposed ban on illegal immigrants buying insurance

The Los Angeles Times reports: "Trying to quell a conservative uproar over his healthcare agenda, President Obama has proposed barring illegal immigrants from a possible government-arranged health insurance marketplace -- even if the immigrants pay with their own money.

17 Sep 2009