Body

#6363TADALAFIL PROVES EFFECTIVE THERAPY FOR PULMONARY HYPERTENSION(Tuesday, October 28, 10:30 AM EST)

#6480INSOMNIA DOES NOT PREDICT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE(Tuesday, October 28, 1:00 PM EST)

#6786TOBACCO ABUSE BY US TROOPS IN IRAQ TWICE NATIONAL AVERAGE(Tuesday, October 28, 2:30 PM EST)

#7725YOUNGER PATIENTS WITH LUNG CANCER HAVE BETTER SURVIVAL (Tuesday, October 28, 1:00 PM EST)

Breastfeeding has a number of positive health benefits for baby: it can prevent ear infections and allergies, and lowers the risk of developing respiratory problems. It can also help prevent against obesity later in life, but the reason for this still isn't known.

In an effort to find this link, Katherine F. Isselmann, M.P.H., a doctoral candidate in Temple's department of public health, has been comparing the feeding habits of mothers who breastfed their babies and mothers who bottle fed their babies, and has also examined the eating habits of their pre-school aged children.

Molecular targets identified by a Spanish research team may hold the key to freedom for some sufferers of kidney disease. A new study published in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), dmm.biologists.org, reveals the cellular signals which cause one treatment for kidney failure to lose its usefulness over time.

San Diego, October 28, 2008 – Childhood obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes, asthma, hypertension, sleep apnea and emotional distress. Obese children and youth are likely to be obese as adults, experience more cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke and incur higher healthcare costs. In an article published in the December 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers report that children living in inner city neighborhoods with higher "greenness" experienced lower weight gains compared to those in areas with less green space.

INDIANAPOLIS – In the first study to look at the effect of neighborhood greenness on inner city children's weight over time, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the University of Washington report that higher neighborhood greenness is associated with slower increases in children's body mass over a two year period, regardless of residential density.

As this year's flu season gets underway in the northern hemisphere, new research finds that when it comes to flu vaccination, more appears to be better.

Two new studies published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine show that increasing the number of people vaccinated against influenza can decrease the burden of the disease, and not just in the individuals receiving the vaccine.

Sulfonylurea drugs, such as glibenclamide, are widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. These drugs work by causing pancreatic beta cells to release insulin, which occurs when the drug inhibits ATP-sensitive potassium channels, causing calcium to enter the beta cells which then stimulates release of insulin, and consequently a fall in blood glucose levels. However, long term treatment with sulfonylureas eventually fails, but the mechanism is not known.

Off-label prescription of a drug is generally legal, but promotion of off-label uses by a drug manufacturer is illegal. In an article in this week's PLoS Medicine, two physician researchers describe the techniques that drug companies use to covertly promote off-label use, even when such promotion is illegal.

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have uncovered what appears to be an extensive, but until now barely noticed, network of regulatory interactions that influence what proteins are made inside a cell, and when and where.

Washington, D.C. – Researchers are asking for tougher penalties and fines for pharmaceutical companies that market drugs for "off label" promotion, according to a study published in the October 28 issue of the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

NEW YORK (EMBARGOED UNTIL OCTOBER 27, 2008 – 8:00 P.M. U.S. EASTERN TIME) – Why did the elephant cross the road? It didn't according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Save the Elephants that says endangered forest elephants are avoiding roadways at all costs. The authors of the study believe that these highly intelligent animals now associate roads with danger – in this case poaching, which is rampant in Central Africa's Congo Basin.

Drugs widely used to treat type 2 diabetes may be more likely to keep working if they are used in moderation, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found in a study using an animal model.

The drugs, sulfonylureas, help type 2 diabetics make more insulin, improving control of blood sugar levels. But in most patients the effects of sulfonylureas are lost after several years of use, causing insulin secretion to shut down. This typically forces patients to switch to regular insulin injections.