Obese women have a well-known risk for infertility, but a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study has unraveled what investigators there believe is the mechanism that accounts for the risk. The research, conducted in mice and published online on Sept. 8 in the journal Cell Metabolism, shows that the pituitary gland actively responds to chronically high insulin levels, triggering a cascade of hormonal changes that disrupt ovarian function and impair fertility. The findings challenge the widely held belief that infertility is a result of insulin resistance — a body's ...

An analysis of data from influenza cases in Wisconsin indicates individuals with 2009 H1N1 infections were younger than those with H3N2 (2007-2008), and that the risk of most serious complications was not higher in adults or children with 2009 H1N1 compared with recent seasonal strains, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. "The pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus caused widespread transmission in the United States and other countries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 43 million to 89 million infections occurred in ...

Patients panels (used to rate the quality of care of physicians) with greater proportions of underinsured, minority and non-English speaking patients were associated with lower physician quality rankings, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. Physicians have increasingly become the focus of quality performance measurement. Many health care systems now use physician clinical performance assessment as part of their re-credentialing process, and public reporting programs have become widely adopted approaches to influence clinician performance. "These programs ...

Infants who received heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV-7) at 2, 4, and 11 months were more likely than unvaccinated controls to have nasopharyngeal (in the nasal passages and upper part of the throat behind the nose) acquisition of pneumococcal serotype 19A, a leading cause of respiratory pneumococcal disease, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. "A rapid increase in the presence of pneumococcal serotype 19A strains that are often multiresistant to antibiotics has been observed over the last decade. In the United States, serotype 19A ...

Fetal exposure to radiation and the risk of childhood cancer: what is the likelihood of a risk? A new study published in this week's PLoS Medicine aims to evaluate the possibility that exposure of a fetus to computed tomography or radionuclide imaging performed during pregnancy might increase subsequent risk of childhood cancer. The researchers concluded that despite the very large size of their study they were unable to exclude the possibility of a very slight risk, and advise that beta hCG testing (blood pregnancy test) should continue to be done in all potentially ...

There is an association between taking statins (lipid lowering drugs), and reduced risk of developing the chronic inflammatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis. These are the findings of a study by Gabriel Chodick and colleagues, published in this week's PLoS Medicine. The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study among the 1.8-million members of Maccabi Healthcare Services (a health maintenance organization [HMO]) in Israel to identify adults who regularly took statins and did not have rheumatoid arthritis. Using Maccabi's large automated datasets, the researchers ...

Interactive computer packages are effective in improving knowledge about sexual health, according to a new study by Cochrane researchers. Computer-based approaches could help to tackle problems such as sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy. Patients may be unlikely to discuss sexual health concerns with health professionals because of the sensitivity of the issues, or simply because healthcare providers have limited time. Computer-based interventions are a promising alternative and have already proved successful in the promotion of HIV-related sexual ...

Acamprosate reduces the number of patients being treated for alcoholism who return to drinking, according to a new Cochrane Systematic Review. The drug showed moderate benefits in trials when used in addition to non-drug treatments. Drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of ill health. According to the World Health Organization, alcohol misuse is at the root of around a quarter of all cases of oesophageal cancer, liver disease and epilepsy, as well as road accidents and homicides. Acamprosate and naltrexone are drugs used alongside psychosocial methods to help ...

Microbes could be threatening our cultural heritage by degrading historic cinematographic film and even preventing some valuable footage to be archived at all. Mr Gavin Bingley who is presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today describes how fungal growth on cinema film can not only lead to deterioration of the film but may also pose a risk to the archivist. "Fungi that form mould on film reels produce enzymes that enable them to use components of the film for growth, leading to degradation of the film," explained ...

There are currently no reliably safe and effective treatments for morning sickness, according to Cochrane researchers who conducted a systematic review of the available evidence. There was very limited evidence for all pharmaceutical and alternative medicines tested. Morning sickness is the term used to describe vomiting and feelings of nausea in pregnant women. Symptoms can in fact occur at any time of the day and affect more than half of all women in the early stages of pregnancy. Due to concerns that pharmaceutical medicines may damage their unborn children, women ...

The likelihood that the treatment of a middle ear infection will fail is slightly higher for a child who is given a shorter course of antibiotics, according to a new Cochrane Systematic Review. The results are conclusive, but the researchers say there are other factors that must be considered when the drugs are prescribed. Most children suffer at some point from a middle ear infection, also called acute otitis media (AOM). It is one of the most common reasons for children being prescribed antibiotics, at a cost of up to $5 billion each year in the US alone. Health practitioners ...

HIV-infected children in South Africa who were exposed to the drug nevirapine at birth (used to help prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission) and then received a protease inhibitor (PI) for viral suppression achieved lower rates of viremia (virus in the blood stream) if they were switched to nevirapine, compared to children who continued on the PI-based regimen, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. PI-based therapies generally have a higher cost compared to nevirapine, which may leave some children excluded from treatment. Current guidelines for nevirapine-exposed ...

Use of gemcitabine, a drug that can be effective in treating advanced and resected pancreatic cancer, did not result in improved overall survival after pancreatic cancer resection (surgical removal) compared to patients who received fluorouracil and folinic acid, another treatment regimen that has shown effectiveness, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. "Pancreatic cancer is one of the major causes of cancer death globally, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5 percent. The outlook for those patients who can undergo surgical resection is better, ...

Two new studies have shed more light on how smoking may damage fertility, and give further weight to advice that mothers and fathers-to-be should stop smoking before attempting to conceive. The research is published online in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today (Wednesday 8 September). In the first study [1], researchers found that a mother's smoking during early pregnancy dramatically reduces the numbers of germ cells (the cells that form eggs in females and sperm in males) and somatic cells (the cells that form every other part of ...

An international consortium of researchers has completed the majority of the genome sequence of the domesticated turkey, thanks in part to the efforts of Virginia Tech faculty members. The research team will publish "Multi-Platform Next-Generation Sequencing of the Domestic Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo): Genome Assembly and Analysis" in the journal PLoS Biology (Public Library of Science) on Sept. 7, 2010. "To date, more than 90 percent of the domesticated turkey genome has been sequenced and assembled," said Rami Dalloul, assistant professor of animal and poultry sciences ...

The Potomac River in Washington, D.C. is showing multiple benefits from restoration efforts, newly published research suggests. Reduced nutrients and improved water clarity have increased the abundance and diversity of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Potomac, according to direct measurements taken during the 18-year field study. Since 1990, the area covered by SAV in the lower Potomac has doubled, the area covered by native SAV has increased ten-fold, the diversity of plant species has increased, and the proportion of exotic species to native species has declined ...

Uncovering the secrets of the brain requires an intense network of collaborative research. Building on a tool that was co-developed in his laboratory and described in a recent issue of Brain, Dr. Yaniv Assaf of Tel Aviv University's Department of Neurobiology is collaborating with an international team of scientists to understand how different parts of the human brain "connect" -- and to turn this information into a "brain atlas." Brain researchers already know that autism and schizophrenia are not localized disorders ––there is no one place in the brain they can be found. ...

LOS ANGELES (September 7, 2010) – The first study to demonstrate that obesity can directly accelerate the progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been conducted at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and will be published in Cancer Prevention Research, on October 5, 2010. Obesity has been associated with an increased incidence of many cancers, including leukemia, but it has been unknown whether the increase in incidence was a direct effect of obesity or associated with genetic, lifestyle, health, or socio-economic factors. "Given ...

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a major mechanism underlying the development of tolerance to chronic morphine treatment. The discovery may help researchers find new therapies to treat chronic pain, and reduce tolerance and side effects associated with morphine use. The findings are published in the July 20th issue of Science Signaling. Overcoming tolerance to morphine after chronic administration has been a persistent problem in treating patients with severe pain, including those with cancer and neuropathy and recovering from major surgeries. ...

Schoolyard taunts of any type can potentially damage a child's sense of self-confidence. But a new study suggests that a particular kind of teasing – about weight – can have distinctive and significant effects on how pre-teens perceive their own bodies. The research, among the first to specifically examine the impact of weight-based criticism on pre-adolescents, also hints that the practice can cause other health and emotional issues for its victims. "We tend to think of adolescence as the time when kids become sensitive about their body image, but our findings suggest ...

WASHINGTON — Students who cheat in high school and college are highly likely to fit the profile for subclinical psychopathy – a personality disorder defined by erratic lifestyle, manipulation, callousness and antisocial tendencies, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. These problematic students cheat because they feel entitled and disregard morality, the study found. Cheating, a perennial concern for educators, "has been facilitated by new technologies," said Delroy Paulhus, PhD, who led the research. "At the same time, cheating may ...

MADISON, WI, September 7, 2010 – Rising sea levels and coastal development are threatening coastal freshwater wetlands with saltwater intrusion. While most ecosystem restoration projects have focused on surface water and groundwater, new research finds that conditions in the vadose zone, the unsaturated soil below the surface but above the water table, are of particular importance to seedling survival in coastal floodplain ecosystems. Scientists at the University of Florida, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and the Florida Park Service investigated ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For decades, carefully logging data about how mice go through the motions of their daily routines has been a tedious staple of behavioral and neuroscience research: Hour 2, minute 27: mouse 4 is sleeping; Hour 3, minute 12: mouse 7 is eating; and so on. It's a task most people would happily cede to automation. Now, says Thomas Serre, assistant professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown University, that's finally possible. In a paper to be published online Sept. 7, 2010, in the journal Nature ...

URBANA – For the first time ever, University of Illinois researchers have discovered how microbes break down hemicellulose plant matter into simple sugars using a cow rumen bacterium as a model. "This is ground-breaking research," said Isaac Cann, associate professor in the U of I Department of Animal Sciences and member of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) in the Institute for Genomic Biology. "The implications are very broad, yet it all started with a simple rumen microbe. It's amazing how we can draw inferences to human health and nutrition, biofuel production ...

WASHINGTON—September 7, 2010— Research!America is highlighting the vital importance of vaccines with a new fact sheet in its Investment in Research Saves Lives and Money series. CDC recently reported that routine vaccination rates are increasing among teens aged 13-17, but for many diseases the vaccination rates are far below the CDC's recommended 90% mark. With kids heading back to school and flu season fast approaching, now is a good time to remind readers of the importance of vaccines and disease prevention. Vaccine prevention is one of the most proven and effective ...