San Diego, CA-- An experimental drug causes loss of weight and fat in mice, a new study has found. The study results will be presented Friday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. Known as GC-1, the drug reportedly speeds up metabolism, or burning off, of fat cells. "GC-1 dramatically increases the metabolic rate, essentially converting white fat, which stores excess calories and is associated with obesity and metabolic disease, into a fat like calorie-burning brown fat," said study author Kevin Phillips, PhD, a researcher at Houston Methodist ...

San Diego, CA-- A trained scent dog accurately identified whether patients' urine samples had thyroid cancer or were benign (noncancerous) 88.2 percent of the time, according to a new study, to- be presented Friday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "Current diagnostic procedures for thyroid cancer often yield uncertain results, leading to recurrent medical procedures and a large number of thyroid surgeries performed unnecessarily," said the study's senior investigator, Donald Bodenner, MD, PhD, chief of endocrine oncology at the University of ...

People with anorexia nervosa and with body dysmorphic disorder have similar abnormalities in their brains that affect their ability to process visual information, a new UCLA study reveals. People with anorexia have such an intense fear of gaining weight that they starve themselves even when they are dangerously thin. Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by an obsessive preoccupation with a perceived flaw in physical appearance. The researchers found that people with both disorders had abnormal activity in the visual cortex of the brain during ...

San Diego, CA -- A tooth enamel abnormality in children, molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH), may result from exposure to the industrial chemical bisphenol A (BPA), authors of a new study conclude after finding similar damage to the dental enamel of rats that received BPA. The study results will be presented Friday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "Human enamel defects may be used as an early marker of exposure to BPA and similar-acting endocrine disruptors," Babajko said. BPA is an endocrine disruptor, or hormone-altering chemical, that ...

Herpes simplex virus infections are an enormous global health problem and there is currently no viable vaccine. For nearly three decades, immunologists' efforts to develop a herpes vaccine have centered on exploiting a single protein found on the virus's outer surface that is known to elicit robust production of antibodies. Breaking from this approach, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have created a genetic mutant lacking that protein. The result is a powerfully effective vaccine against herpes viruses. "We have ...

March 10, 2015--(BRONX, NY)--Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have designed a new type of vaccine that could be the first-ever for preventing genital herpes--one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, affecting some 500 million people worldwide. By using a counterintuitive scientific approach, researchers were able to prevent both active and latent infections caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the virus that causes genital herpes. Findings from the research, conducted in mice, were published today in the online ...

San Diego, CA--Exposure to low doses of hormone-disrupting chemicals early in life can alter gene expression in the liver as well as liver function, increasing the susceptibility to obesity and other metabolic diseases in adulthood, a new study finds. Results of the animal study will be presented Friday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. Brief exposure in infancy to several industrial chemicals that are common in the human environment, particularly bisphenol A (BPA), caused fatty liver disease in adulthood, the researchers found in rats. "Even ...

San Diego, CA--In patients with chronic heart failure, the vitamin D metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), also called calcitriol, and its ratio to parathyroid hormone (PTH 1-84) may help predict cardiovascular death; and patients with decreased calcitriol and decreased ratio of calcitriol to PTH might benefit from more aggressive supplementation, a new study finds. The results will be presented Friday, March 6, at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego. Heart failure, with high morbidity and mortality, is increasingly prevalent ...

San Diego, CA--A treatment known as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may decrease fasting glucose and improve quality of life in overweight and obese women, new research suggests. The results will be presented in a poster Friday, March 6, at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego. MBSR is a secular mindfulness meditation program that was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The practice of MBSR involves paying attention to one's thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations in the present ...

San Diego, CA--A mother's age at childbirth may affect her male baby's birth weight as well as his adult glucose metabolism, new research shows. The results will be presented Friday, March 6, at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego. "Our findings indicate that women giving birth at a very young (under 25 years) or older (over 34 years) age might result in less favorable sugar handling and thus possibly higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes in their sons," said Charlotte Verroken, MD, of the Department of Endocrinology of Ghent University ...

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. - March 6, 2015) The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital--Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project reports that a highly aggressive form of leukemia in infants has surprisingly few mutations beyond the chromosomal rearrangement that affects the MLL gene. The findings suggest that targeting the alteration is likely the key to improved survival. The research appeared online ahead of print this week in the scientific journal Nature Genetics. The study is the most comprehensive analysis yet of this rare but aggressive subtype of pediatric acute ...

Alexandria, VA-- Children born during, and up to three years after, the devastating 1997-1998 El Niño event in northern Peru were found to be shorter than their peers in a new study covered in EARTH Magazine. The rising waters wiped out crops, drowned livestock, cut off bridges, and caused prolonged famine in many rural villages. Now, a new study that tracked long-term health impacts on children from the affected region has found that a decade later, the children continue to bear signs of the hardship endured early in their lives. Learn how the children's health ...

(Boston)--In a review article recently published in the journal Clinical and Translational Medicine, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shed new light on the underlying processes of tumor metastasis and highlight the role of epigenetics in this process. By comparing embryogenesis with cancer metastasis they hypothesize that reversible epigenetic events regulate the development of different types of metastatic cancers. They also describe that the surrounding cells of the tumors (stromal cells) play a significant role in this process. The BUSM ...

From Saharan dust storms to icy clouds to smoke on the opposite side of the continent, the first image from NASA's newest cloud- and aerosol-measuring instrument provides a profile of the atmosphere above Africa. The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System instrument (CATS), was launched Jan. 10 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, and was installed on the International Space Station on Jan. 22. From its berth on the station, CATS sends laser pulses toward Earth, detecting the photons that bounce off of particles in the atmosphere to measure clouds, volcanic ash, pollutants, dust ...

If you walk into your local drug store and ask for a supplement to help you sleep, you might be directed to a bottle labeled "melatonin." The hormone supplement's use as a sleep aid is supported by anecdotal evidence and even some reputable research studies. However, our bodies also make melatonin naturally, and until a recent Caltech study using zebrafish, no one knew how--or even if--this melatonin contributed to our natural sleep. The new work suggests that even in the absence of a supplement, naturally occurring melatonin may help us fall and stay asleep. The study ...

(Boston)--Racial and ethnic disparities in the receipt of health care (typically referring to minorities not receiving needed care) are well known. A recent review in the journal Milbank Memorial Quarterly has now found that while race/ethnicity is not consistently associated with the overuse of medical care (unnecessary care that does not improve patient outcomes). However, when overuse occurs, a substantial proportion occurs among white patients. These findings may lead to a better understanding of how and why race/ethnicity might be associated with overuse and may result ...

(WASHINGTON, March, 6, 2015) - A report, released today from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in its journal, Blood, presents an innovative, sustainable new role for hematologists, particularly those specializing in non-malignant blood diseases, for today's rapidly changing U.S. health-care system. The report, published online as a Blood Forum article, outlines several models for a "systems-based clinical hematologist," a centralized position within hospitals and health-care systems specializing in non-malignant blood disorders. In the report, "The Role of Hematologists ...

Researchers have identified more than 100 areas within U.S. waters that should be considered biologically important when making management and regulatory decisions about human activities that could affect whales, dolphins and porpoises. The creation of Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) are described in a special issue of the journal Aquatic Mammals. Expert judgment was combined with published and unpublished data to identify 131 BIAs covering 24 species, stocks or populations in seven regions of the U.S. It is the first time so much information has been brought together ...

Having a high sense of purpose in life may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a new study led by researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt and presented on March 6 at the American Heart Association's EPI/Lifestyle 2015 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore. The new analysis defined purpose in life as a sense of meaning and direction, and a feeling that life is worth living. Previous research has linked purpose to psychological health and well-being, but the new Mount Sinai analysis found that a high sense of purpose is associated ...

Using a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis, scientists have discovered that a form of cellular immunotherapy by intravenous administration of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells, or M-MDSCs, might be an effective treatment for the disease in humans. In a report published in the March 2015 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, researchers show that M-MDSCs are capable of inhibiting T cell proliferation, as well as B cell proliferation and antibody production. As a result, the arthritic mice experienced improvements in their symptoms. "I hope this study will ...

Tropical Cyclone 15S continued to meander in the Mozambique Channel of the Indian Ocean when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured a picture of it. The storm's lack of direction is short-lived, however, as forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC expect that the storm will move in a southwesterly direction and landfall in west central Madagascar by March 9. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone 15S on March 5 at 11:25 UTC (6:25 ...

San Diego, CA--Among prescriptions filled for menopausal hormone therapy (HT) in the U.S., almost half now are custom-compounded "bioidentical" hormones, according to analysis of a recent survey of nearly 500 pharmacists. The study results will be presented Friday March 6th at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. Custom-compounded prescriptions, which are mixed for an individual according to a doctor's prescription, are not well-regulated or monitored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "Despite the increased quality risks and the lack ...

San Diego, CA--Men with borderline testosterone levels have higher rates of depression and depressive symptoms than the general population, new research finds. The results will be presented Saturday, March 7, at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego. "Over half of men referred for borderline testosterone levels have depression. This study found that men seeking management for borderline testosterone have a very high rate of depression, depressive symptoms, obesity and physical inactivity," said principal study author Michael S. Irwig, MD, ...

San Diego, CA--Menopausal hormone therapy (HT) does not have a significant effect on death, according to a new review of the medical literature published over the past three decades. The results, which included studies with follow-up as long as 18 years, will be presented Friday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "At present, we do not have evidence that hormone therapy in postmenopausal women increases mortality or protects from death compared with women who never used hormones," said lead investigator Khalid Benkhadra, MD, a research fellow ...

In the absence of food, neurons that normally control appetite initiate complex, repetitive behaviors seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anorexia nervosa, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. The findings are published in the March 5 online issue of the journal Cell. Neural circuits are responsible for flexible goal-oriented behaviors. The Yale team investigated how a population of neurons in the hypothalamus that control food intake are also involved in other behaviors. Known as Agrp neurons, these cells also control repetitive, ...