Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have mapped the significance of heredity for common forms of atherosclerotic disease. No studies have previously examined whether different forms of the disease share heredity. The study looked at coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, peripheral arterial disease and atherosclerosis of the aorta in individuals whose siblings and parents have suffered different types of cardiovascular disease. The results showed that heredity is highest for atherosclerosis of the aorta followed by peripheral arterial disease, coronary heart disease ...

Earthquakes that last minutes rather than seconds are a relatively recent discovery, according to an international team of seismologists. Researchers have been aware of these slow earthquakes, only for the past five to 10 years because of new tools and new observations, but these tools may explain the triggering of some normal earthquakes and could help in earthquake prediction. "New technology has shown us that faults do not just fail in a sudden earthquake or by stable creep," said Demian M. Saffer, professor of geoscience, Penn State. "We now know that earthquakes ...

A new study conducted by researchers at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center found men diagnosed as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were twice as likely to be obese in a 33-year follow-up study compared to men who were not diagnosed with the condition. The study appears in the May 20 online edition of Pediatrics. "Few studies have focused on long-term outcomes for patients diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. In this study, we wanted to assess the health outcomes of children diagnosed with ADHD, focusing on obesity rates and ...

Washington, D.C., May 20, 2013 –CosmosID®, a leading data mining solutions company for health and wellness, has reported as part of a collaboration results on analysis of labeling claims for the composition of probiotic products comparing speed, specificity, and accuracy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CosmosID® conducted side-by-side analysis of a number of commercially available probiotics, four of which have been reported at the American Society for Microbiology. The purpose of the tests was to compare the identity of species and strains present in the ...

New Rochelle, NY, May 20, 2013—National guidelines recommend that at-risk women be screened for elevated cholesterol levels to reduce their chances of developing cardiovascular disease. But who is 'at risk?' The results of a study by investigators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to estimate the proportion of women young and old who have cholesterol levels that meet the definition of being at-risk are reported in an article in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free ...

Tampa, FL (May 20, 2013) -- While the effects of acute stroke have been widely studied, brain damage during the subacute phase of stroke has been a neglected area of research. Now, a new study by the University of South Florida reports that within a week of a stroke caused by a blood clot in one side of the brain, the opposite side of the brain shows signs of microvascular injury. Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and increases the risk for dementia. "Approximately 80 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes, in which the blood ...

PORTLAND, Ore. – A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly and often unnecessary prescription drugs. This system, which has been in place for decades, at one time benefitted doctors by keeping them up to date on new medications, and always provided generous amounts of "free" samples to get patients started on the newest drugs, as well as other supplies and gifts. But it's actually ...

New research from the University of Southampton has shown that blind and visually impaired people have the potential to use echolocation, similar to that used by bats and dolphins, to determine the location of an object. The study, which is published in the journal Hearing Research, examined how hearing, and particularly the hearing of echoes, could help blind people with spatial awareness and navigation. The study also examined the possible effects of hearing impairment and how to optimise echolocation ability in order to help improve the independence and quality of ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 20, 2013) – Posterior fossa subdural hematoma (PFSDH) is a serious and rare condition in newborns, generally occurring after difficult deliveries. But with appropriate treatment, there's an excellent chance of good long-term outcomes even in severe cases of PFSDH, reports a study in the May issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The results support an "aggressive" approach to evaluation and treatment—including surgery, ...

The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole. Now, a team led by University of Pennsylvania physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base. The study was led by Marija Drndić, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences, ...

Hospital emergency departments play a growing role in the U.S. health care system, accounting for a rising proportion of hospital admissions and serving increasingly as an advanced diagnostic center for primary care physicians, according to a new RAND Corporation study. While often targeted as the most expensive place to get medical care, emergency rooms remain an important safety net for Americans who cannot get care elsewhere and may play a role in slowing the growth of health care costs, according to the study. Emergency departments are now responsible for about ...

What is it about toothpaste that transforms the sweet flavor of orange juice into something so bitter? For the solution to that mysterious sensory phenomenon — in colorful, animated detail — check the latest episode of the American Chemical Society's award-winning Bytesize Science video series at http://www.BytesizeScience.com The video, from the world's largest scientific society, explains that the mainstay ingredients in toothpaste include a detergent called sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS for short. When you brush your teeth, SLS produces the foamy suds and gives toothpaste ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – As high schoolers prepare for final exams, teens nationwide may be tempted to use a "study drug" -- a prescription stimulant or amphetamine -- to gain an academic edge. But a new University of Michigan poll shows only one in 100 parents of teens 13-17 years old believes that their teen has used a study drug. Study drugs refer to stimulant medications typically prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); commonly prescribed medicines in this category include Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin, and Vyvanse. Among parents ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Touted for safety, ease and patient convenience, peripherally inserted central catheters have become many clinicians' go-to for IV delivery of antibiotics, nutrition, chemotherapy, and other medications. But compared to other central venous catheters (CVCs), these commonly-used catheters (known as PICCs) more than double the risk of dangerous blood clots – especially among patients who are critically ill or who have cancer, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study published in The Lancet. In recent years, PICCs have become the ...

ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA─A new study looking at sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging adds to the growing body of research linking the two. But this latest study also poses an interesting question: Could AD in its "preclinical stages" also lead to SDB and explain the increased prevalence of SDB in the elderly? The study will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference. "It's really a chicken and egg story," said Ricardo S. Osorio, MD, a research assistant professor ...

ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA – Optimal treatment of sleep apnea in patients with prediabetes improves blood sugar (glucose) levels and thus can reduce cardiometabolic risk, according to a study to be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference in Philadelphia. "Sleep apnea, a condition associated with breathing disturbances during sleep is known to be associated with abnormalities in glucose metabolism, but whether treatment of sleep apnea has any beneficial effects on glucose metabolism is still under investigation" said lead author Sushmita Pamidi, MD, of the Department ...

ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA ─ Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have identified a potential new risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea: asthma. Using data from the National Institutes of Health (Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)-funded Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, which has been following approximately 1,500 people since 1988, researchers found that patients who had asthma were 1.70 times (95% CI=1.15-2.51) more likely to develop sleep apnea after eight years. "This is the first longitudinal study to suggest a causal relationship between asthma and sleep ...

ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA ─ Gourmands and foodies everywhere have long recognized ginger as a great way to add a little peppery zing to both sweet and savory dishes; now, a study from researchers at Columbia University shows purified components of the spicy root also may have properties that help asthma patients breathe more easily. The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference. Asthma is characterized by bronchoconstriction, a tightening of the bronchial tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs. Bronchodilating medications ...

Contact: Terry Collins tc@tca.tc 416-538-8712 Contact: Alma van der Veen 49-228-731846 aveen@uni-bonn.de Global Water System Project Shifts in global water systems -- markers of a new geological epoch: The Anthropocene Experts in Bonn to detail how science can help people mitigate or adapt to major global human-induced water system changes A suite of disquieting global phenomena have given rise to the "Anthropocene," a term coined for a new geologic epoch characterized by humanity's growing dominance of the Earth's environment and a planetary transformation ...

What lures a lady frog to her lover? Good looks, the sound of his voice, the size of his pad or none of the above? After weighing up their options, female strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) bag the closest crooner they can, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers of Zoology. This seemingly short-sighted strategy turns out to be the optimal mate choice strategy for these colourful frogs. Males of the species congregate in the Costa Rican rain forest 'lek-style' to display and call together, giving females the chance to weigh up multiple ...

Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst report their findings at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. "This represents the first result of current production solely on hydrogen," says Amit Kumar, a researcher on the study who, along with his co-authors are part of the Lovley Lab Group at the university. Under the leadership of Derek Lovley the ...

Scientists at the University of California, Davis have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light. They report their findings today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. "In this work, we used synthetic biology approaches to probe and rewire photoautotrophic (exclusively relying on carbon dioxide and light energy for growth) cyanobacterial metabolism for the ability to grow without light energy," says Jordan McEwen, the lead researcher on the study. He is part of Shota Atsumi's lab at the university, ...

Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world's oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research by the University of York shows this approach to be extremely risky. The research, published today in the journal Fish and Fisheries, shows that traditional fisheries targeting large predators such as cod and haddock, have declined over the past hundred years. In their place, catches of shellfish such as prawns, scallops and lobsters have rocketed as they begin to thrive ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed a promising method to distinguish between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis — two disorders that are difficult to tell apart. A molecular marker obtained from pancreatic "juices" can identify almost all cases of pancreatic cancer, their study shows. The findings were being presented at Digestive Disease Week 2013 in Orlando, Fla. "Many researchers have been working on such a diagnostic test for a long time — for me, it has been 20 years," says lead investigator Massimo Raimondo, M.D., a gastroenterologist ...

A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth. The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth. Because electron transfer, the moving of an electron from one chemical species to another, is involved in many biological processes – including photosynthesis, respiration and the reduction of RNA to DNA – the study's findings suggest that complex biochemical transformations may have been possible when ...