Despite higher rates of diabetes in black and Hispanic women, the rate at which women die of diabetes-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer is the same for all postmenopausal women, regardless of race or ethnicity, according to a new UMass Medical School study. Lead author Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, concludes that the way to reduce high diabetes-related death rates among all postmenopausal women—including black and Hispanic women—is through prevention of diabetes. This is particularly important, since much remains unknown ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – In an analysis of 446 compounds for their the ability to boost the innate immune system in humans, researchers in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University discovered just two that stood out from the crowd – the resveratrol found in red grapes and a compound called pterostilbene from blueberries. Both of these compounds, which are called stilbenoids, worked in synergy with vitamin D and had a significant impact in raising the expression of the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, or CAMP gene, that is involved in immune function. The ...

HEIDELBERG, 17 September 2013 – Scientists have succeeded in growing stem cells that have the ability to develop into two different types of cells that make up a healthy pancreas. The research team led by Dr. Hans Clevers of the Hubrecht Institute, The Netherlands, have isolated and grown stem cells from the pancreases of mice using a 3-D culture system previously developed by the scientists. The results, which are reported in The EMBO Journal, could eventually lead to ways to repair damaged insulin-producing beta cells or pancreatic duct cells. Cell signalling molecules ...

On Tuesday, September 17, JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, will publish a novel technique for imaging muscle function while in motion. Research in this area could uncover the root of musculoskeletal disorders, such as the development of osteoarthritis following ACL surgery. "The technique uses ultrasound waves to detect the motion of muscles using the Doppler principle," said the lab's principal investigator Dr. Siddhartha Sikdar, "We use a stereo method, where ultrasound waves from multiple directions are combined ... with a number of other biomechanical ...

The structure of the brain may predict whether a person will suffer chronic low back pain, according to researchers who used brain scans. The results, published in the journal Pain, support the growing idea that the brain plays a critical role in chronic pain, a concept that may lead to changes in the way doctors treat patients. The research was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. "We may have found an anatomical marker for chronic pain in the brain," said Vania Apkarian, Ph.D., ...

Raleigh-Durham, NC. -- A new meta-analysis of 29 randomized studies involving more than 4,500 patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) found that intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) injections provided significant improvement in pain and function compared to saline injections. The study, "US-Approved Intra-Articular Hyaluronic Acid Injections are Safe and Effective in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Saline-Controlled Trials," was published online this month in Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal ...

Bethesda, MD -- Carbonation, an essential component of popular soft drinks, alters the brain's perception of sweetness and makes it difficult for the brain to determine the difference between sugar and artificial sweeteners, according to a new article in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. "This study proves that the right combination of carbonation and artificial sweeteners can leave the sweet taste of diet drinks indistinguishable from normal drinks," said study author, Rosario Cuomo, associate professor, gastroenterology, ...

The first of its kind, the review showed 461 cases of links between racism and child and youth health outcomes. Lead researcher Dr Naomi Priest at the McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing at the University of Melbourne said the review demonstrated racism as an important factor influencing the health and wellbeing of children and youth. "The review showed there are strong and consistent relationships between racial discrimination and a range of detrimental health outcomes such as low self-esteem, reduced resilience, increased behaviour problems and lower ...

In excavating sites in a long-inhabited urban area like Jerusalem, archaeologists are accustomed to noting complexity in their finds -- how various occupying civilizations layer over one another during the site's continuous use over millennia. But when an area has also been abandoned for intermittent periods, paradoxically there may be even richer finds uncovered, as some layers have been buried and remainundisturbed by development. Such appears be the case at an archaeological dig on Jerusalem's Mount Zion, conducted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, ...

The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) research team has successfully and completely reversed the effects of the hERG (human ether-a-go-go-related gene) mutation in long QT syndrome 2 (LQTS 2) in patient-specific heart cells, scoring a world's first. Long QT syndrome 2 is a dangerous heart rhythm disorder that can lead to sudden cardiac death, even in young patients. It is caused by a mutation in a specific gene known as hERG, which helps to control the electrical activity in the heart cells and coordinate its beating rhythm. Using the patient's own skin stem cells ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

(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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

CHICAGO --- Abnormalities in the structure of the brain predispose people to develop chronic pain after a lower back injury, according to new Northwestern Medicine® research. The findings could lead to changes in the way physicians treat patients' pain. Most scientists and clinicians have assumed chronic back pain stems from the site of the original injury. "We've found the pain is triggered by these irregularities in the brain," said A. Vania Apkarian, senior author of the study and a professor of physiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. ...

ROSEMONT, Ill.—She wasn't born this way, but even Lady Gaga experienced groin pain—typically a symptom of hip disease such as arthritis of the hip—or, in her case, a hip labral tear. Groin pain is a common health complaint. According to a literature review appearing in the September 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), one in four people develop hip arthritis—damage to the surfaces in the hip joint—before the age of 85 that contributes to groin pain. Contributing factors to the development of hip arthritis and, subsequently, ...

A good night's sleep is important to our children's development. But with the first day of school just passed, many children are at increased risk for sleep breathing disorders that can impair their mental and physical development and hurt their academic performance. A study conducted in North America in 2011 showed that the frequency of sleep-disordered breathing increases in the winter and spring. Until now, researchers believed asthma, allergies, and viral respiratory infections like the flu contributed to disorders that affect children's breathing during sleep. Now, ...

It's less costly to get electricity from wind turbines and solar panels than coal-fired power plants when climate change costs and other health impacts are factored in, according to a new study published in Springer's Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. In fact—using the official U.S. government estimates of health and environmental costs from burning fossil fuels—the study shows it's cheaper to replace a typical existing coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine than to keep the old plant running. And new electricity generation from wind could be more economically ...