CT colonography (CTC), known as virtual colonoscopy, is as accurate at screening for colorectal cancers and pre-cancerous polyps as conventional colonoscopy, the current screening standard, according to the National CT Colonography Trial, a nationwide multi-center study that included the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
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Developing countries that want the benefits of cutting-edge health care possibilities based on the genetic variation of individual citizens and sub-populations need to foster the new science at home, says a major new Canadian study published today by Nature Publishing Group.
A hormone found at higher levels when the body produces its own "home grown" fat comes with considerable metabolic benefits, according to a report in the September 19th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The newly discovered signaling molecule is the first example of a lipid-based hormone—most are made up of proteins--although the researchers said they expect it will not be the last.
In the new issue of Cell Stem Cell, scientists report that the same transcription factor, which is crucial for the survival of different stem cell types, can behave differently.
This study clearly showed for the first time that different types of stem cells are defined by exclusive combinations of genes working together, and this is under the influence of a single key stem cell factor (called Sall4).
Boston, MA -- Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have identified in mice a newly discovered class of hormones -- lipokines, according to a report in the September 19, 2008, issue of Cell. Furthermore, they have implicated a lipokine as a molecule in mice that helps stop or even reverse obesity-related conditions such as insulin resistance and "fatty liver."
Lipokines are hormones made from lipids, or fats. All other known hormones -- chemical signals secreted into the blood that regulate distant cells and organs -- are steroid- or protein-based.
The Montreal water treatment plant dumps 90 times the critical amount of certain estrogen products into the river. It only takes one nanogram (ng) of steroids per liter of water to disrupt the endocrinal system of fish and decrease their fertility.
These are the findings of Liza Viglino, postdoctoral student at the Université de Montréal's Department of Chemistry, at the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution, who is under the supervision of Professors Sébastien Sauvé and Michèle Prévost.
Experts claim that internationally adopted children can undergo puberty at an early age making them more susceptible to a variety of health risks as adults: abdominal obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even certain cancers.
But are internationally adopted children really more at risk?
"It depends on their country of origin and on their living conditions up until their adoption," says Hélène Delisle, a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Nutrition.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - How fat cells become after being exposed to a specialized electrical field is helping researchers determine whether cells are normal, cancerous or a stage of cancer already invading other parts of the body.
More than 7,000 school pupils from across the UK will be taking part in the trial of a new positive thinking programme led by the University of Bath designed to prevent children developing problems with depression.
Around one in ten children have symptoms which place them at high risk of becoming seriously depressed. If left unmanaged, these symptoms could have a significant impact upon the child's everyday life and increase the possibility of mental health problems in young adulthood.
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To harness endothelin-1's power to constrict blood vessels and help patients manage high blood pressure or heart failure, scientists must learn more about how endothelin functions naturally and in disease states, says a Medical College of Georgia researcher.
Despite strong laboratory evidence that blocking endothelin-1 receptors would be an effective, targeted therapy for these two major health problems, the drugs failed patients, says Dr. Adviye Ergul, physiologist in the MCG Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – For years, researchers have known that high blood pressure causes blood vessels to contract and low blood pressure causes blood vessels to relax. Until recently, however, researchers did not have the tools to determine the exact proteins responsible for this phenomenon. Now, using atomic force microscopy - a microscope with very high resolution - and isolating blood vessels outside the body, University of Missouri researchers have identified a protein that plays an important role in the control of tissue blood flow and vascular resistance.
Obesity and weight increase leads to an increased risk of many chronic diseases, and the advice is therefore to maintain a stable healthy weight. Now, research shows that there may be disadvantages to being thin. Men who have low weight in middle age and who reduce their weight, increase the chance of osteoporosis and fracture. This is shown in data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the University of Tromsø.
The findings are now published in The American Journal of Epidemiology.
Low weight leads to increased risk of osteoporosis
It has long been thought that virus infections can cause cardiac arrhythmia. But why has not been understood. Ulrike Lisewski, Dr. Yu Shi, Michael Radke and Professor Michael Gotthardt of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now discovered the molecular mechanism. The researchers demonstrated that the receptor which the virus uses to infect heart cells is normally necessary for regular heart beat in mice. Likewise, when the receptor is absent or non-functioning, arrhythmia occurs.