PHILADELPHIA — A new multiple gene expression profile test was able to predict the presence of harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations in otherwise healthy women carrying the mutations, according to data published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "This novel technology aims to provide a layer of information regarding the cell functionality aspect of BRCA mutations that could greatly enhance the doctor's ability to identify high-risk carriers," said Asher Y. Salmon, M.D., a breast cancer specialist at the Hadassah Hebrew ...

Contact: Kimberly Nixon kim-nixon@uky.edu 859-218-1025 The University of Kentucky Contact: Fulton T. Crews ftcrews@med.unc.edu 919-966-5678 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research A brain protein called vimentin can indicate damage to the hippocampus following binge drinking Binge drinking is known to increase the risk of developing dementia and/or brain damage. A new study used rodents to test markers of neurodegeneration to determine a threshold for brain damage. The vimentin brain protein can ...

Sports-related concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the long-term damage they can cause becomes increasingly evident among both current and former athletes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of these injuries occur each year. Despite the devastating consequences of traumatic brain injury and the large number of athletes playing contact sports who are at risk, no method has been developed for early detection or tracking of the brain pathology associated with these injuries. Now, ...

HOUSTON (Jan. 23, 2013) – Deleting or reducing expression of a gene that carries the code for tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, can prevent seizures in a severe type of epilepsy linked to sudden death, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., in a report in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. A growing understanding of the link between epilepsy and some forms of inherited Alzheimer's disease led to the finding that could point the way toward new drugs for seizure disorders said Dr. Jeffrey ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have found that for people harboring a genetic predisposition that is prevalent among Americans, beta carotene, which the body converts to a close cousin of vitamin A, may lower the risk for the most common form of diabetes, while gamma tocopherol, the major form of vitamin E in the American diet, may increase risk for the disease. The scientists used a "big data" approach to hunt down interactions between gene variants previously associated with increased risk for type-2 diabetes and blood levels ...

CHICAGO – In a study that included more than 4 million patients, nearly 20 percent of hospitalizations resulted in at least 1 acute care encounter within the 30 days following discharge, with emergency department visits accounting for about 40 percent of post-discharge hospital-based acute care use, according to a study appearing in the January 23/30 issue of JAMA. "Hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge are common, costly, and often related to the index hospitalization," according to background information in the article. "Current efforts to improve health ...

CHICAGO – In a national sample of 72 children's hospitals, 6.5 percent of hospitalized children experienced an unplanned readmission within 30 days, with significant variability in readmission rates across conditions and hospitals, according to a study appearing in the January 23/30 issue of JAMA. "Clinicians, hospitals, health systems, patients, and purchasers of health care are using readmission rates as an indicator of the quality of care that patients receive during a hospital admission and after discharge," according to background information in the article. "Although ...

CHICAGO – Among approximately 3 million Medicare patients hospitalized for heart failure, heart attack, or pneumonia, readmissions were frequent throughout the 30 days following the hospitalization, and resulted from a wide variety of diagnoses that often differed from the cause of the index hospitalization, according to a study appearing in the January 23/30 issue of JAMA. "Hospital readmissions are common and can be a marker of poor health care quality and efficiency. To lower readmission rates, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began publicly reporting ...

Following hospitalization for heart attacks, heart failure, or pneumonia, patients are at high risk of being readmitted for a broad spectrum of medical conditions in the month following hospital discharge, research at Yale School of Medicine shows. The study appears in the Jan. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Hospital readmission has garnered significant interest from patient advocates, payers such as insurance companies, and policymakers, but neither the timing nor causes of readmissions have been well described. The authors studied ...

Following a hospitalization, patients face many challenges as they transition home. A new study of this vulnerable period published by Yale School of Medicine researchers in JAMA found that a substantial number of patients return to the emergency department soon after leaving the hospital, and, while such patients are not usually readmitted, the study raises concerns that many more patients require acute medical care after hospital discharge than previously recognized. A hospital's readmission rate is a marker of hospital quality of care and the success of patient transitions ...

Researchers at Imperial College London have shown that keeping healthy blood cells alive could be a more important tool in the fight against leukaemia than keeping cancerous cells at bay. The team used computer modelling to show that maintaining a friendly environment for healthy cells was more effective than targeting the damaged cells directly. This result could change the way leukaemia is treated, as cancer treatment has traditionally relied on fighting disease rather than maintaining health. A better understanding of the processes taking place in the bone marrow ...

Children with eczema have a more diverse set of bacteria in their guts than non affected children, finds a new study in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Microbiology. The types of bacteria present were also more typical of adult gut microbes than for toddlers without eczema. Eczema is a chronic inflammation of the epidermis. The gut bacteria of children with or without eczema was examined when they were six and 18 months old. At six months all the infants had the same types of bacteria but by 18 months old the children with eczema had more of a type of bacteria ...

The metabolic process which fuels the growth of many cancers has its origins in normal brain growth finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Cancer & Metabolism. Using knock-out mice the study shows that interfering with Hexokinase-2 (Hk2), an enzyme integral to glucose metabolism, reduces the aggressiveness of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children, and allows long term survival of mice. Most cells only convert glucose to lactate in the absence of oxygen, for example, during a short burst of intensive exercise (anaerobic ...

Antidepressant prescriptions in the UK have increased by 9.6% in 2011, to 46 million prescriptions. Does this reflect overmedicalisation or appropriate treatment? Two experts debate the issue on bmj.com today. Glasgow GP, Dr Des Spence, thinks that "we use antidepressants too easily, for too long, and that they are effective for few people (if at all)" He acknowledges that depression is an important illness, but argues that the current definition of clinical depression (two weeks of low mood – even after bereavement) "is too loose and is causing widespread medicalisation." ...

First pregnancies complicated by postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) have no detrimental effect on future fertility but women who have caesarean sections at the time of PPH are less likely to conceive again, finds a new study published today (23 January) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. There has been a rise in the overall rate of PPH (where blood loss is >500ml) in the UK, due to increases in maternal risk factors and in the number of caesarean sections performed. Women who undergo caesarean section deliveries are more likely to suffer PPH than ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Forging public and private partnerships that encourage broadband access for people with disabilities may help bridge a technological divide that hinders them from reaching their potential, according to an international team of researchers. Besides connecting people who have disabilities with resources that may help them become more independent, equipping them with broadband technology can also benefit society and ease the financial burden on taxpayers, said Krishna Jayakar, associate professor of communications, Penn State. "The benefits of bridging ...

Databriefing: How long can we expect to live? An article from John Appleby, Chief Economist at the Kings Fund, published on bmj.com today brings attention to the rising amount of those expected to live to 100 and asks where it will end. According to the Office of National Statistics there seems to be "no end in sight" as far as the number of UK citizens reaching 100 years old is concerned. Approximately 13% of girls born in 1951 are expected to reach this milestone, increasing to 40% for girls born this year and a predicted 60% of those born in 2060. Appleby attributes ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study of 152 Vietnam veterans with combat-related brain injuries offers the first detailed map of the brain regions that contribute to emotional intelligence – the ability to process emotional information and navigate the social world. The study found significant overlap between general intelligence and emotional intelligence, both in terms of behavior and in the brain. Higher scores on general intelligence tests corresponded significantly with higher performance on measures of emotional intelligence, and many of the same brain regions were found ...

This press release is available in German.Trees do not grow in the deep sea, nevertheless sunken pieces of wood can develop into oases for deep-sea life - at least temporarily until the wood is fully degraded. A team of Max Planck researchers from Germany now showed how sunken wood can develop into attractive habitats for a variety of microorganisms and invertebrates. By using underwater robot technology, they confirmed their hypothesis that animals from hot and cold seeps would be attracted to the wood due to the activity of bacteria, which produce hydrogen sulfide during ...

ST. LOUIS -- In research published in the Jan. 21 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology, a team led by Susana Gonzalo, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University, has discovered a molecular pathway that contributes to triple-negative breast cancer, an often deadly and treatment resistant form of cancer that tends to strike younger women. In addition, Gonzalo and her team identified vitamin D and some protease inhibitors as possible new therapies and discovered a set of three biomarkers that can help to identify patients who ...

Public campaigns that call upon people to think and act interdependently may undermine motivation for many Americans, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Americans are repeatedly exposed to messages urging them to think and act with others in mind, telling us, for example, to act sustainably by bringing reusable bags to the grocery store or to act responsibly by getting a flu shot. Researchers MarYam Hamedani, Hazel Rose Markus, and Alyssa Fu of Stanford University wondered what impact these ...

As world food and energy demands grow, nations and some corporations increasingly are looking to acquire quality agricultural land for food production. Some nations are gaining land by buying up property – and accompanying water resources – in other, generally less wealthy countries. Sometimes called "land grabbing," this practice can put strains on land and water resources in impoverished countries where the land, and needed water, has been "grabbed" for commercial-scale agriculture. A new study by the University of Virginia and the Polytechnic University of Milan, ...

WASHINGTON, January 22, 2012—Plants can adapt to extreme shifts in water availability, such as drought and flooding, but their ability to withstand these extreme patterns will be tested by future climate change, according to a study by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their cooperators. The study was published this week in Nature by a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists led by Guillermo Ponce Campos and Susan Moran and an Australian team led by Alfredo Huete from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). This research included ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Super-small particles of silicon react with water to produce hydrogen almost instantaneously, according to University at Buffalo researchers. In a series of experiments, the scientists created spherical silicon particles about 10 nanometers in diameter. When combined with water, these particles reacted to form silicic acid (a nontoxic byproduct) and hydrogen — a potential source of energy for fuel cells. The reaction didn't require any light, heat or electricity, and also created hydrogen about 150 times faster than similar reactions using silicon particles ...

Bad news about the economy could cause you to pack on the pounds, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study shows that when there is a perception of tough times, people tend to seek higher-calorie foods that will keep them satisfied longer. When subconsciously primed with such messages, a "live for today" impulse is triggered causing people to consume nearly 40 percent more food than when compared to a control group primed with neutral words. "The findings of this study come at a time ...