Beta-thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that results in chronic anemia. A major complication of the condition is iron overload, which damages organs such as the liver and heart. The iron overload has been linked to low levels of the protein hepcidin, a negative regulator of intestinal iron absorption and iron recycling. A team of researchers, led by Stefano Rivella, at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, has now shown that increasing the concentration of hepcidin in beta-thalassemic mice limits iron overload and markedly reduces their anemia. They therefore ...

Children who experience a parental divorce are over twice as likely to suffer a stroke at some point in their lives, according to new research presented in New Orleans at The Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting. This finding is based on a representative community sample of over 13,000 people from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. The data analysis was conducted by Esme Fuller-Thomson, PhD, and a team of colleagues at the University of Toronto. "We were very surprised that the association between parental divorce and stroke ...

When using combined positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT) imaging, adopting a true whole-body field of view in the imaging of cancer patients could lead to more accurate staging and restaging than achieved with the routinely used limited whole-body field of view, according to a study in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). PET/CT is a dual imaging technique that is used to diagnose and treat a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers. "Use of the routine field of view for whole-body FDG PET/CT ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — More than half of all combat-related injuries sustained by U.S. troops are the result of explosions, and many of those involve injuries to the head. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, about 130,000 U.S. service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have sustained traumatic brain injuries — ranging from concussion to long-term brain damage and death — as a result of an explosion. A recent analysis by a team of researchers led by MIT reveals one possible way to prevent those injuries — adding a face shield to the helmet worn by military personnel. In ...

High blood levels of the antioxidant alpha-carotene appear to be associated with a reduced risk of dying over a 14-year period, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the March 28 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Oxygen-related damage to DNA, proteins and fats may play a role in the development of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer, according to background information in the article. Carotenoids—including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and lycopene—are produced by plants and microorganisms ...

Diabetes appears to be associated with the risk of depression and vice versa, suggesting the relationship between the two works in both directions, according to a report in the November 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. An estimated 23.5 million U.S. adults—more than 10 percent—have diabetes, including 23 percent of those ages 60 and older, according to background information in the article. Major depressive disorder affects about 14.8 million U.S. adults each year. "Although it has been hypothesized that the diabetes-depression ...

Dual antiplatelet therapy—treatment with the medications clopidogrel and aspirin together to prevent blood clots—poses a clinically significant risk of hemorrhage that should be considered before prescribing, according to a report in the November 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel plus aspirin is commonly used to prevent blood clots in patients with cardiovascular disease, according to background information in the article. The treatment has demonstrated a benefit in reducing the formation ...

Lower-income families in high-deductible health plans appear more likely to delay or forgo medical care based on cost than higher-income families with similar coverage, according to a report in the November 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, lower-income families did not report any more troubles understanding or using their plans. "In the midst of the current economic downturn, many Americans are paying more for their health care," the authors write as background information in the article. "One way in which a growing ...

Introducing a music-based multitask exercise program for community-dwelling elderly people may lead to improved gait (manner or style of walking), balance and a reduction in the rate of falling, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the March 28 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Each year, one-third of the population 65 years and older experiences at least one fall, and half of those fall repeatedly," the authors write as background information in the article. "Exercise can counteract key risk ...

A patient education program combining videos with one-on-one follow-up did not appear to reduce the risk of falls among all older hospital patients, but was associated with fewer falls among patients who were not cognitively impaired, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the March 28 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Falls are a leading patient safety incident event in general hospitals and are especially common in older patients," the authors write as background information in the article. ...

EDITOR'S PICK: Who is in your poo? Working with mice and human patients, Eric Pamer, Carles Ubdea, and colleagues, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, have generated data that suggest that high-throughput DNA sequencing of bacteria in the gut could identify patients at high-risk of life-threatening bloodstream infection with the antibiotic-resistant bacterium vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Bacterial infections acquired as a result of treatment in a hospital or health-care unit kill approximately 100,000 people a year in the US. Many of these ...

People who have an allotment, especially those aged over 60, tend to be significantly healthier than those who do not. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health have shown that the small gardens were associated with increased levels of physical activity at all ages, and improved health and well-being in more elderly people. Agnes van den Berg, from Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands, worked with a team of researchers to carry out a study into the health benefits of allotment gardening. She said, "Taken together, ...

The U.S. death rate from congenital heart defects dropped 24 percent from 1999 to 2006 among children and adults, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. A congenital heart defect was the underlying cause of 27,960 deaths — an age-standardized rate of 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people — based on data from death certificates. In a comparable study published in Circulation in 2001, deaths due to congenital heart defects dropped 39 percent from 1979 to 1997. Congenital heart defects are structural abnormalities of the heart ...

Implanted devices that treat cardiac dysfunction in heart failure patients are as successful in "real world" use as they are in controlled clinical trial settings, according to a large new study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the study, researchers focused on three devices: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) — shocks the heart to treat dangerously fast rhythms in its lower chambers, or ventricles, and can also treat sudden cardiac arrest; Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) —coordinates pumping of the two ventricles ...

Since 1871, when Charles Darwin wrote The Descent of Man, it has been widely accepted that "Variability is the necessary basis for the action of selection." Variability is associated with the ability to adapt, which is clearly beneficial at a species level. But there is increasing evidence that genetic variability may also give rise to advantages at the level of the individual. Steve Smith and Franz Suchentrunk at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have now shown that variation at a particular gene locus in hares is ...

SALT LAKE CITY, November 22, 2010 —Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah report that they have identified a previously undiscovered trigger mechanism for a quality control checkpoint at the very end of the cell division process in a paper to be published in the November 29 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and online today. This trigger mechanism monitors whether the cell's nucleus, where the DNA resides, has the proper structure and delays cell division if the structure is not correct. Previously discovered triggers have been associated ...

Targeted breast ultrasound should be the primary imaging technique used to evaluate focal (confined) breast signs and symptoms in women younger than 30, according to a study in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). Breast ultrasound is commonly used to help diagnose breast abnormalities and to characterize potential abnormalities seen on mammography. For women younger than 30 years with focal breast signs or symptoms, targeted ultrasound is the technique typically recommended for initial imaging evaluation. However, questions ...

GALVESTON, November 17, 2010 – A startling number of overweight and normal weight women of reproductive age inaccurately perceive their body weight, affecting their weight-related behaviors and making many vulnerable to cardiovascular and other obesity-related diseases, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. In the December issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the researchers report that nearly 25 percent of overweight and 16 percent of normal weight reproductive-age women misperceive their body weight. This is the first ...

Skin cells from humans can be revamped into pro-clotting cells called platelets, according to a study published on November 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Patients with diseases causing thrombocytopenia—platelet deficiency—often require repeated transfusions with platelets obtained from healthy donors. But donor platelet isolation is expensive and labor intensive, and donor platelets can be attacked by the patient's immune systems as "foreign." Therefore, Koji Eto and colleagues sought a method for generating custom-made platelets from patients' ...

A sugar found in mouse breast milk promotes the generation of colitis in offspring, according to a study published online on November 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Sugars in breast milk are essential for the development of the newborn immune system and the growth of beneficial commensal bacteria in the gut. But certain milk sugars in certain contexts could be bad news. A group led by Thierry Hennet at the University of Zurich found that newborn mice fostered by mothers lacking one particular milk sugar—sialyl(alpha2,3)lactose—were less susceptible ...

Boston, MA – A new study released today estimates that the global initiative to eradicate polio could provide net benefits of at least US$40-50 billion if transmission of wild polioviruses is interrupted within the next five years. The study provides the first rigorous evaluation of the benefits and costs of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)—the single largest project ever undertaken by the global health community. The study comes at a crucial time—following an outbreak in the Republic of the Congo and one in Tajikistan earlier this year—that highlight the ...

There are 27 species of bats identified in the Basque Country today. Twenty years ago there were hardly any records. This data reflects the fruitful work on the ecology and behavioural development of bats by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) research team since the 90s. The director of the team, Mr Joxerra Aihartza, took the first steps when he began drawing up a complete atlas of the distribution of bat species in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAV-EAE). There are now nine biologists on the team. As Mr Egoitz Salsamendi, member of the team, ...

Hospitals all over the world need to be aware of how to treat emergency blast injuries and military surgeons can provide valuable knowledge and advice to their civilian counterparts based on their experience of battlefield injuries. That is the driving force behind two papers published online by BJS, the British Journal of Surgery. "The current inquest into the 2005 London bombings - and the recent international security alerts - provide a timely reminder that surgeons could be called on at a moment's notice to deal with blast injuries" says consultant surgeon Mr Jonothan ...

ATLANTA, GA – 22 November, 2010 – The College of Direct Support (CDS), an internet-based curriculum for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and managed in partnership by Elsevier/MC Strategies and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, has introduced its latest offering in the form of a new genre of its online learning content. The new Learning Session is called "R&R Arcade: Direct Support Professionalism: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)." This Learning Session is in a new memory-game format, based on the memory ...

Engineers have developed a new type of microchip muscle stimulator implant that will enable people with paraplegia to exercise their paralysed leg muscles. It is the first time that researchers have developed a device of this kind that is small enough to be implanted into the spinal canal and incorporates the electrodes and muscle stimulator in one unit. The implant is the size of a child's fingernail. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project is being led by Professor Andreas Demosthenous from University College London. It includes engineers ...