A study of more than 1,000 patients with colon cancer that had spread to distant sites found that one in eight was treated with at least one drug regimen that was not recommended. Those patients were exposed to significant risk without proven benefits, at an estimated cost—just for the drugs—of more than $2 million. The study, presented June 7, 2011, by University of Chicago researchers at the American Society for Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago, focused on three chemotherapy regimens that were not supported by evidence from prior clinical studies or clinical ...

BERN, SWITZERLAND (7 JUNE 2011)—A comprehensive assessment of tropical forest management reports a 50 percent increase in the area of tropical forest under sustainable management in just five years, but cautions that key drivers of that increase—growing demand for certified timber and funding for climate change initiatives—could have only a marginal impact in the long-term. Drawing on detailed data on each of the 33 countries that together control almost all of the world's tropical rainforests and tropical timber production, the report released today by the Japan-based ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Ricardo Soares Magalhães and Archie Clements, from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, describe how they used national cross-sectional household-based demographic health surveys to map the distribution of anaemia risk in preschool-age children in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Mali. The use of such maps has significant practical implications for targeted control of anaemia in these countries, such as guiding the efficient allocation of nutrient supplements and fortified foods, and contributing to the planning and evaluation of resource ...

Using a combination of sophisticated modelling and statistical analyses, David Fisman and colleagues show that infection with influenza likely increases the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). It is feasible that infection with influenza increases the short-term risk of bacterial invasion in individuals already colonized with Streptococcus pneumoniae (which causes IPD) by increasing the permeability of the lining of the airways to the bacteria. These findings suggest that some cases of IPD could be attributable to influenza, so the extension of influenza ...

In the fourth article in a six-part PLoS Medicine series on migration & health, Joan Benach from the Employment Conditions Network at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues discuss the health risks and policy needs associated with migration to destination countries, especially for low-skilled workers. In destination countries, migrant workers often fill low- or semi-skilled positions in the labour market, which are often characterized by flexibility, insecurity, precarious employment, and long working hours with low pay. Undocumented or "illegal" ...

The mechanisms by which obesity leads towards metabolic co-morbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, are poorly understood and of great public health interest. A study led by Matej Orešič from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that adaptation of fat cell membranes to obesity may play a key role in the early stages of inflammatory disorders. Millions of adults are diagnosed as obese each year, worldwide. Many of these people suffer from a disorder known as metabolic syndrome, which includes symptoms such as hypertension and elevated blood cholesterol. ...

In search of a way to prevent the muscle wasting that comes with illness and aging, researchers have landed a natural compound that might just do the trick. The findings reported in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, identify a component of apple peels as a promising new drug candidate for the widespread and debilitating condition that affects nearly everyone at one time or another. "Muscle wasting is a frequent companion of illness and aging," said Christopher Adams of The University of Iowa, Iowa City. "It prolongs hospitalization, delays ...

Researchers reporting in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have what they say is some of the first solid proof that insulin has direct effects on the reward circuitry of the brain. Mice whose reward centers can no longer respond to insulin eat more and become obese, they show. The findings suggest that insulin resistance might help to explain why those who are obese may find it so difficult to resist the temptation of food and take the weight back off. "Once you become obese or slide into a positive energy balance, insulin resistance in ...

For Popeye, spinach was the key to extra muscle. For the mice in a new University of Iowa study, it was apples, or more precisely a waxy substance called ursolic acid that's found in apple peel. The UI study, published in the June 8 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, showed that ursolic acid reduced muscle atrophy (also known as muscle wasting) and promoted muscle growth in mice. It also reduced fat, blood sugar levels, cholesterol and triglycerides in the animals. The findings suggest that the compound may be useful for treating muscle wasting and possibly metabolic ...

A 10-month study of healthy honey bees by University of California, San Francisco scientists has identified four new viruses that infect bees, while revealing that each of the viruses or bacteria previously linked to colony collapse is present in healthy hives as well. The study followed 20 colonies in a commercial beekeeping operation of more than 70,000 hives as they were transported across the country pollinating crops, to answer one basic question: what viruses and bacteria exist in a normal colony throughout the year? The results depict a distinct pattern of infections ...

A new study into osteosarcoma - cancer of the bone - will use advances in genomic research and analysis to identify new genes that give rise to the condition and to create personalised blood tests for children and young adults with the condition. The study is funded by Skeletal Action Cancer Trust, SCAT. It is hoped that the results of this new study will help doctors improve treatment of this difficult disease through better diagnosis and monitoring of this bone cancer. Each year approximately 80 children and young adults develop osteosarcoma in the UK. This painful ...

Around one third of voluntary and charitable organisations in England receive public money to support their work and over 20,000 organisations say that the public sector is their most important source of income according to initial findings of research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). "It is very clear that public funding is more important to voluntary organisations than previously thought," says Professor John Mohan of the Third Sector Research Centre, who led the study. "And this is particularly true for those organisations working in deprived ...

The decision of the German government to phase out nuclear power by 2022 has reopened an energy debate that has far wider implications than Germany or Japan, which is still coming to terms with events at the damaged Fukushima plant. This virtual issue, published by the SETAC journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry adds to that debate by exploring the ecological effects of radiation, using research from the Chernobyl disaster. The issue is a freely accessible resource for researchers that offers a historical precedent for considering the long-term environmental ...

Exposure in the womb to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used in the food and medical industries, causes changes in female primates' uterus development, new research suggests. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston. "Previous studies have shown that BPA can affect the reproductive tract. However, because the studies were done in rodents, it was uncertain if this would also be true in humans," said Carmen Williams, MD, PhD, a clinical investigator with the National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIEHS), ...

A decline in testosterone levels as men grow older is likely the result—not the cause—of deteriorating general health, say Australian scientists, whose new study finds that age, in itself, has no effect on testosterone level in healthy older men. The results, to be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston, are the first findings released from the Healthy Man Study, according to principal investigator David Handelsman, MD, PhD, professor and director of the ANZAC Research Institute at the University of Sydney. "Some researchers believe ...

Women who gain too much weight during pregnancy tend to have newborns with a high amount of body fat, regardless of the mother's weight before pregnancy, a new study finds. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston. High fat at birth is a possible risk factor for childhood obesity, said the study's principal investigator, Jami Josefson, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Previous studies have shown ...

Heart function may be affected in people with Type 2 diabetes as early as adolescence, according to a new study that will be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston. "Past studies in adults with Type 2 diabetes show that their heart and blood vessels' ability to adapt to exercise may be impaired. Our study shows that these changes in heart function may begin to happen very early after Type 2 diabetes occurs," said the study's lead author, Teresa Pinto, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Dalhousie University IWK Health Centre in Halifax, ...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 7, 2011 — A new study led by a Northern Illinois University sociologist shows that while family members often provide critical support, they also can sometimes be the source of stigmatizing attitudes that impede the recovery of mentally ill relatives. "Negative attitudes of family members have the potential to affect the ways that mentally ill persons view themselves, adversely influencing the likelihood of recovery from the illness," said lead researcher Fred Markowitz, an NIU professor of sociology. Markowitz and his colleagues, Beth Angell from ...

Cash bonuses can help hotel operators lure back disappointed customers who were displaced during overbooking snags, according to Penn State researchers. In an experiment, participants said they were more satisfied with cash compensation than a voucher if they lost stays at a hotel due to overbooking, said Breffni Noone, assistant professor of hospitality management. "A lot of people in the hotel industry ask the question: 'What do I do to compensate customers who have been turned away because of overbooking?' " said Noone. "The results suggest cash-based overcompensation ...

Every year, 10,000 pregnant women and up to 200,000 newborn babies are killed by the malaria parasite. Doctors all around the globe have for years been looking in vain for a medical protection, and now researchers from the University of Copenhagen have found the biochemically weakness of the lethal malaria parasite, and will now start developing a vaccine to combat pregnancy related malaria. The malaria parasite travels via the spit of an infected mosquito to the liver of the new host, where it spreads to the red blood corpuscles and starts to reproduce itself. "Pregnant ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – People may judge the quality and qualifications of psychotherapists simply by what their offices look like, a new study suggests. After only viewing photos of offices, study participants gave higher marks to psychotherapists whose offices were neat and orderly, decorated with soft touches like pillows and throw rugs, and which featured personal touches like diplomas and framed photos. "People seem to agree on what the office of a good therapist would look like and, especially, what it wouldn't look like," said Jack Nasar, co-author of the study and ...

Government plans to divert more mentally ill people out of the criminal justice system and into mental health services are unlikely to be achieved, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London. In a study published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, researchers estimate that there are over 8,000 prisoners with schizophrenia and other psychoses in prisons in England and Wales. If transferred to hospital, treatment for these patients would have to be in conditions of security. However, the sheer number of mentally ill prisoners would ...

Advanced hepatitis C patients with chronic liver disease may benefit from drinking coffee during treatment, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Patients who received peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment and who drank three or more cups of coffee per day were two times more likely to respond to treatment than non-drinkers. "Coffee intake has been associated with a lower level of liver enzymes, reduced progression of chronic liver disease and reduced incidence of liver cancer," ...

Lowering phosphate intake in humans can reduce heart disease, according to research by experts at the University of Sheffield. This is the first time the connection between a high phosphate diet and atherosclerosis - the cause of heart disease - has been proven. The findings have been published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (2 June 2011). The research, which was funded by the Sheffield Kidney Association and the National Institute for Health Research, has shown that cholesterol deposits in the wall of arteries are increased following a higher ...

WASHINGTON – Women service members who experience combat are apparently as resilient as the men they serve alongside, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association. Men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 experienced very similar levels of combat-related stress and post-deployment mental health impacts during the first year following return from deployment, researchers reported in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, published by APA. "Contrary to popular belief, women who go to war respond to combat trauma much like ...