An independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that the name of a common hormone disorder in women, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), causes confusion and is a barrier to research progress and effective patient care. The current name focuses on a criterion — ovarian cysts — which is neither necessary nor sufficient to diagnose the syndrome. In a report released today, the panel recommended assigning a new name that more accurately reflects the disorder. "The name PCOS is a distraction that impedes progress. It is time to assign a name ...

Since at least the 1970s, the population of critically endangered Sulawesi black macaques living in an Indonesian nature reserve has been dropping. But a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and in Indonesia shows that the population has stabilized over the past decade. The findings, published in the January issue of the American Journal of Primatology, are from the longest ongoing survey of Macaca nigra and are among the first evidence that the monkeys may be in better shape. "Fifteen years ago it looked like this macaque population would continue ...

PHILADELPHIA — Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer being treated with anti-HER2 therapy may be able to prevent or delay resistance to the therapy with the addition of a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase inhibitor to their treatment regimens. The data, published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, indicated that failure of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab to block HER2 from activating the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway can lead to resistance to treatment. Therefore, dual simultaneous inhibition of ...

In Missouri forests, dense thickets of invasive honeysuckle decrease the light available to other plants, hog the attention of pollinators and offer nutrient-stingy berries to migrating birds. They also release toxins that decrease the germination of nearby native plants. Why, then, do studies of invasive species come to different conclusions about their effects and lead some organizations to suggest we accept their presence? Biologists Kristin Powell, Tiffany Knight and Jon Chase of Washington University in St. Louis have found an answer. Most studies of the effects ...

In a demonstration of the power of green chemistry, scientists are reporting development of a new and more efficient process for making one of the most costly and widely used medications for severe mental illness. Described in a report in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, it produces larger amounts of the medication than the existing commercial process while reducing the use of solvents and other potentially toxic substances. Vijayavitthal T. Mathad and colleagues point out that paliperidone, marketed under the brand name Invega, is one of a new generation ...

One of the indicators of a cell's health is the state of its DNA and containers—the chromosomes—so when these fuse together or suffer anomalies, they can become the source of illnesses like cancer and/or ageing processes. According to a study carried out by a team led by María Blasco, the director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) and head of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group, a sustained lowering of food intake over time results in an increase of telomere length—the ends of chromosomes—in adult mice, which has a protective effect on the DNA and genetic ...

MaxiAids Products for Independent Living (www.MaxiAids.com) has released their 2013/14 Catalog. Commonly accepted as the 'Reference Guide of the Industry,' the MaxiAids Catalog contains the largest available assortment of items that support active, healthy and independent lives. The most viewed catalog in the industry, it has thousands of budget-friendly assistive items for all age groups, no matter what their special need is. See more clearly with magnified, talking or large print daily living items such as talking watches and large numbered clocks! Never oversleep ...

Lower minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws have been associated with short-term effects such as a greater number of traffic fatalities and teen suicides. A new study has investigated the long-term and persistent linkages between permissive MLDA laws and specific drinking behaviors such as average alcohol consumption, frequency of drinking, patterns of binge drinking, and moderate drinking. Findings support an association with problematic drinking behaviors that persist into later adulthood, such as more frequent binge episodes. Results will be published in the March ...

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is characterized by a fatty liver, hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Binge drinking is on the rise worldwide, and is particularly common in the U.S. A review of studies addressing the effects of binge drinking on the liver underscores the complex interactions among various immune, signaling pathways, epigenetic, and metabolic responses of the liver to binge drinking. Results will be published in the April 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View. "The liver is the main metabolic ...

Sleep is supported by natural cycles of activity in the brain and consists of two basic states: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Typically, people begin the sleep cycle with NREM sleep followed by a very short period of REM sleep, then continue with more NREM sleep and more REM sleep, this 90 minute cycle continuing through the night. A review of all known scientific studies on the impact of drinking on nocturnal sleep has clarified that alcohol shortens the time it takes to fall asleep, increases deep sleep, and reduces REM sleep. Results ...

Prior studies have shown that a low subjective response (SR) to alcohol is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Research on moderate drinkers has shown that acquired tolerance is different from initial response, and is also significantly associated with drinking problems. A new study of linkages among early SR, acquired tolerance, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems among problem drinkers has found that a low, early subjective response –an ability to "hold one's liquor" - may protect against problems in the short term, but likely becomes a risk factor ...

Proposed changes to the upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) will affect the criteria used to assess alcohol problems. One change would collapse the two diagnoses of alcohol abuse (AA) and alcohol dependence (AD) into a single diagnosis called alcohol use disorder (AUD). A second change would remove "legal problems," and a third would add a criterion of "craving." A study of the potential consequences of these changes has found they are unlikely to significantly change the prevalence of diagnoses. Results will ...

Adolescence is often a time of novelty seeking and risk taking, including the initiation of drinking. While heavy drinking that begins in adolescence can lead to problematic alcohol use later in life, other risk factors are also involved in trajectories of alcohol use that may develop. A study of factors predicting alcohol use and patterns of use over time has identified six distinct trajectories that concern level of alcohol use, rate of increase in use during early adolescence, and persistence of use into adulthood. Results will be published in the March 2013 issue ...

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 ...