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

Boost for cancer prevention research

2014-08-05
(Press-News.org) Queen's University scientists are helping to spearhead a new £6 million initiative to find better ways to prevent cancer. The new initiative, led by Cancer Research UK with matching investment from the BUPA Foundation, aims to support cutting-edge research to find better ways to prevent cancer. It is estimated that more than four in ten cancer cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes, such as not smoking, keeping a healthy body weight, cutting back on alcohol, eating a healthy diet, keeping active and staying safe in the sun. Professor Frank Kee, who directs the UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research in Northern Ireland at Queen's University, has been invited to join the International Advisory Board (IAB) of the new Cancer Prevention Science Initiative. Professor Kee, from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen's, said: "Advancing knowledge and changing lives is at the core of what we do at Queen's University. I am honoured to be part of this initiative which aims to do just that. It is a tribute to the CRUK and BUPA that a bold new initiative like this has been developed. It shows how major research funders want to support prevention science and the value they place in the sort of collaborations across disciplines that are required to fight cancer. Building capacity in this area is vital if new discoveries are ever to be translated into better outcomes for patients and the population." "I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with Professor Linda Bauld, the new Cancer Research UK Prevention Champion and with the IAB, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of this initiative in years to come." Professor Kee also spoke on Creativity in Science at last week's inaugural 'Sandpit' event for of the new Cancer Prevention Science Initiative in Oxford. The sandpit provided an opportunity for early career researchers across the country from a wide variety of backgrounds to work with research users and stakeholders to generate novel ideas that could lead to new interventions for cancer prevention. Dr Helen Coleman, Cancer Research UK Fellow and Lecturer in the UKCRC Centre of Excellence at Queen's joined the 'Sandpit' as one of the mentors and facilitators for the participating early career researchers and was able to share her experience of working at the boundaries of different disciplines to drive new forward insights in prevention science. Cancer Research UK research strategies are placing an increasing focus on prevention science in the battle against cancer and the new initiative will build upon their commitment to the UKCRC Centres of Excellence for Public Health Research. For further information on the initiative visit: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/how-we-deliver-research/our-research-partnerships/bupa-foundation-cancer-prevention-initiative Ends Media inquiries to Queen's University Communications Office, Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 3087 email: comms.office@qub.ac.uk

INFORMATION: END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Research explores why interval walking training is better than continuous walking training

2014-08-05
New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) suggests that training with alternating levels of walking intensity (interval training) could be better than walking at a constant speed to help manage blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. The research is by Dr Thomas Solomon, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues. The effects of exercise on blood sugar (glycaemic) control in individuals with type 2 diabetes are well documented but the optimal exercise intensity and type remains to be defined. ...

Study predicts hepatitis C will become a rare disease in 22 years

Study predicts hepatitis C will become a rare disease in 22 years
2014-08-05
Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a computer simulation conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The results of the simulation are reported in the August 5 edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. "Hepatitis C (HCV) is the leading cause of liver cancer and accounts for more than 15,000 deaths in the U.S. each year," said Jagpreet Chhatwal, Ph.D., assistant professor of Health Services Research at MD Anderson, and ...

Life expectancy gap between blacks and whites in the US varies considerably across states

2014-08-04
Racial differences in life expectancy have declined nationally but still vary substantially across U.S. states, according to a new study by McGill University researchers. The findings, published in the journal Health Affairs, suggest that state policies could play a key role in further reducing racial differences in mortality. The researchers calculated annual state-specific life expectancies for blacks and whites from 1990 to 2009 and found that progress was uneven across states during the past two decades. "Prior studies in the United States have shown that, for the ...

Medical consultations for surgical patients examined amid payment changes

2014-08-04
The use of medical consultations for surgical patients varied widely across hospitals, especially among patients without complications, in a study of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colectomy (to remove all or part of their colon) or total hip replacement (THR). Internists and medical subspecialists are frequently called on to assess surgical patients and to help manage their care. As payers move toward bundled payments, hospitals need to better understand variations in practice and resources used during patient care. The authors examined hospital medical consultations ...

Identifying kids, teens with kidney damage risk after first urinary tract infection

2014-08-04
Bottom Line: Children and adolescents with an abnormal kidney ultrasonography finding or with a combination of a fever of at least 102 degrees and infection with an organism other than E.coli appear to be at high risk for renal scarring with their first urinary tract infection (UTI). Author: Nader Shaikh, M.D., of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and colleagues. Background: UTIs are a common and potentially serious bacterial infection in young children. UTIs can lead to permanent renal scarring in up to 15 percent of cases in this population. Significant scarring ...

Study examines midlife hypertension, cognitive change over 20-year period

2014-08-04
Bottom Line: Hypertension in middle age (48 to 67 years) was associated with a greater, although still a modest, decline in cognition over a 20-year period compared with individuals who had normal blood pressure. Author: Rebecca F. Gottesman, M.D., Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues. Background: Evidence suggests hypertension is a risk factor for cognitive change and dementia and midlife hypertension may be the stronger risk factor. How the Study Was Conducted: Authors used the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities ...

Higher chance of hospital death found in areas where emergency departments have closed

2014-08-04
In the first analysis of its kind, UC San Francisco research shows that emergency department closures can have a ripple effect on patient outcomes at nearby hospitals. In a study of more than 16 million emergency admissions to California hospitals between 1999 and 2010, researchers found that patients who were admitted to facilities located in the vicinity of an emergency department (ED) that had recently closed experienced 5 percent higher odds of dying than patients admitted to hospitals that were not near a recently closed ED. The odds of dying were even higher for ...

Poor people with diabetes up to 10 times likelier to lose a limb than wealthier patients

Poor people with diabetes up to 10 times likelier to lose a limb than wealthier patients
2014-08-04
It's no secret that poverty is bad for your health. Now a new UCLA study demonstrates that California diabetics who live in low-income neighborhoods are up to 10 times more likely to lose a toe, foot or leg than patients residing in more affluent areas of the state. Earlier diagnosis and proper treatment could prevent many of these amputations, the researchers say. The study authors hope their findings, published in the August issue of Health Affairs, will motivate public agencies and medical providers to reach out to patients at risk of late intervention and inspire ...

Cost-saving effort in health care falls short of goals, study finds

2014-08-04
A pilot program intended to implement and test a cost-saving strategy for orthopedic procedures at hospitals in California failed to meet its goals, succumbing to recruitment challenges, regulatory uncertainty, administrative burden and concerns about financial risk, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The outcome represents a disappointing effort to widely adopt bundled payments, a much-touted strategy that pays doctors and hospitals one fee for performing a procedure or caring for an illness. The strategy is seen as one of the most-promising ways to curb health ...

An embryonic cell's fate is sealed by the speed of a signal

An embryonic cells fate is sealed by the speed of a signal
2014-08-04
VIDEO: To visualize cells' responses to the signals that ultimately lead them to choose a fate, the researchers engineered a protein involved in this response, Smad4, to glow. In response to... Click here for more information. When embryonic cells get the signal to specialize the call can come quickly. Or it can arrive slowly. Now, new research from Rockefeller University suggests the speed at which a cell in an embryo receives that signal has an unexpected influence on that ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] Boost for cancer prevention research