PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Digestive disorder reaches record levels in Scots children

2013-09-17
(Press-News.org) More children than ever before are living with a debilitating digestive disease, research has shown.

Scientists have found that coeliac disease affects six times more children living in Scotland now than it did in 1990.

A team from the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University analysed the health records of children from South East Scotland aged under 16 years who were newly diagnosed with the condition between 1990 and 2009.

The team – based at Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh – found that the rate of children being newly diagnosed with Coeliac disease rose from 1.7 in every 100,000 children in 1990-1994 to 11.8 per 100,000 children in 2005-2009.

Coeliac disease only affects those who carry the gene for the condition. It is triggered by what doctors call an 'infective hit' – often a viral infection such as gastroenteritis – causing the immune system to attack the lining of the intestines.

Such damage can cause symptoms such as weight loss, abdominal pain and stunted growth, although doctors say that in many older children and adults, recurrent abdominal pain may be the only symptom.

At its most serious, Coeliac disease may cause children to become malnourished. Experts say that the driving force of the condition is a reaction to foods that contain gluten – including wheat, barley and rye cereals.

The Edinburgh team adds that while it does not yet know what is responsible for the rise in Coeliac disease cases, there are a number of possible explanations.

Factors could include changing patterns of childhood infection because of on-going improvements in healthcare as well as an increase in the incidence of related autoimmune conditions – including Coeliac disease and Type I diabetes.

Researchers say that while the trend could reflect a growth in awareness of the condition, they have also seen a rise in the number of classical – more severe cases – which are more likely to affect younger children.

Dr Peter Gillett, of the University of Edinburgh's Department of Child Life and Health and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, who led the study, said: "This study confirms a trend we have seen on a daily basis in our local area of Lothian, Fife and Borders. It also confirms the need to look further at factors influencing why we are seeing more patients with Coeliac disease– it is not only because people are more aware of the disease nor is it thanks to our improved tests.

"Although the number of patients that we are diagnosing with the disease is increasing, it is well short of the number of cases out there, as screening the general population would pick up around one in 100 people.

"The increase in pick-up has implications for families and the support from healthcare they require to maintain a strict lifelong gluten free lifestyle once the diagnosis is made."

### The research, published in the journal Paediatrics, was carried out with support from the Gloag family and Coeliac UK.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Virginia Tech researchers help people in remote Africa respond to diarrheal disease

2013-09-17
Using a simple survey tool, a team of researchers has done what complex studies have failed to do -- provide data that identifies starting points for preventing diarrheal disease outbreaks in at least one region of Africa. Diarrheal illness is a leading cause of disease and death in children under 5, and in HIV-plagued Botswana, it is a significant issue for those over 5 as well. "Yet we still know little about the dynamics of this illness and other infectious diseases," said disease ecologist Kathleen Alexander, an associate professor of wildlife in the College of ...

In patients with acute cholecystitis, surgery should be performed immediately

2013-09-17
Should surgery be performed immediately, or is it better to first administer antibiotics and then perform surgery? A study led by Heidelberg University Hospital Department of Surgery has demonstrated that patients suffering from acute cholecystitis should be operated on immediately. There are no advantages to delaying surgery until antibiotic therapy has been administered for several weeks. After undergoing surgery performed within 24 hours of diagnosis, the patients have fewer complications, are back on their feet earlier, and can leave the hospital more quickly. "With ...

First-time measurements in Greenland snowpack show a drop in atmospheric co since 1950s

2013-09-17
A first-ever study of air trapped in the deep snowpack of Greenland shows that atmospheric levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in the 1950s were actually slightly higher than what we have today. This is a surprise because current computer models predict much higher CO concentrations over Greenland today than in 1950. Now it appears the opposite is in fact true. In a paper recently published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vasilii Petrenko, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, concluded that CO levels rose slightly from 1950 until the ...

Environmental complexity promotes biodiversity

2013-09-17
The study, led by McGill University evolutionary biologist Ben Haller in collaboration with IIASA Evolution and Ecology Program Leader Ulf Dieckmann and IIASA researcher Rupert Mazzucco, suggests that a varied environment spurs the evolution of new species and promotes biodiversity by creating places of refuge—"refugia"—for new organisms to evolve. The model represents asexual organisms that reproduce like plants. To investigate how environmental variation affects evolution, Haller modeled an environment with complex spatial structure. "We wanted to look at more realistic ...

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation may heal a mother's childbirth injury

2013-09-17
Putnam Valley, NY. (Sept. 17 2013) – Vaginal delivery presents the possibility of injury for mothers that can lead to "stress urinary incontinence" (SUI), a condition affecting from four to 35 percent of women who have had babies via vaginal delivery. Many current treatments, such as physiotherapy and surgery, are not very effective. Seeking better methods to alleviate SUI, researchers carried out a study in which female laboratory rats modeled with simulated childbirth injuries received injections of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs; multipotent cells found in connective ...

New class of drug targets heart disease

2013-09-17
(Edmonton) Researchers at the University of Alberta have developed a synthetic peptide that could be the first in a new class of drugs to treat heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Researchers at the U of A found that a deficiency in the peptide apelin is associated with heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and diabetes. They also developed a synthetic version that targets pathways in the heart and promotes blood vessel growth. Lead author Gavin Oudit, an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, said the synthetic form of apelin is far ...

Study: Memory problems, emotional stress result in early readmissions of heart patients

2013-09-17
VIDEO: The study's lead author, Mark W. Ketterer, Ph.D., a psychologist and administrator for Henry Ford Hospital, discusses the implications of the study. Click here for more information. DETROIT – Heart patients' mental state and thinking abilities may help predict whether costly and potentially dangerous early hospital readmission will follow their release after treatment, according to the results of a significant new study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers. The findings ...

Heavily logged forests still valuable for tropical wildlife

2013-09-17
According to principal investigators, Dr Matthew Struebig and Anthony Turner from the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation Ecology (DICE), these findings challenge a long-held belief that there is limited, if any, value of heavily logged forests for conservation. The research, which monitored bats as an indicator for environmental change on Borneo, is the first of its kind to have wildlife in forests logged more than two times. The findings are particularly important because across the tropics forest that has been intensively harvested is frequently ...

Urban agriculture: The potential and challenges of producing food in cities

2013-09-17
In many cities around the world, patrons of high-end restaurants want quality food that is flavorful and fresh. To satisfy their guests, chefs are looking closer and closer to home – to locally grown produce from neighboring farms or even from their own, restaurant-owned gardens. "You can't find fresher food anywhere," says Sam Wortman, assistant professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Chefs are literally picking produce the same day they're cooking it in the restaurants." As the concept of local food and urban gardening gains popularity, urban agriculture, ...

New technology for bioseparation

2013-09-17
WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 17, 2013 -- Separating target molecules in biological samples is a critical part of diagnosing and detecting diseases. Usually the target and probe molecules are mixed and then separated in batch processes that require multiple pipetting, tube washing and extraction steps that can affect accuracy. Now a team of researchers at Brown University has developed a simple new technique that is capable of separating tiny amounts of the target molecules from mixed solutions by single motion of magnet under a microchannel. Their technique may make pipettes ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

Healthy nutrition and physical lifestyle choices lower cancer mortality risk for survivors, new ACS study finds

[Press-News.org] Digestive disorder reaches record levels in Scots children