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Study in JAMA study links primary care shortage with salary disparities

Athens, Ga. – The nation's shortage of primary care physicians has been linked to a host of poor health outcomes, and a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that salary disparities play a major role in the shortage.

Dr. Mark Ebell, a professor and assistant to the provost at the University of Georgia, compared 2007 starting salary data for various physician specialties with the percentage of medical school graduates choosing those specialties. He found a strong, direct correlation between salary and the popularity of a specialty.

Genetic region linked to a 5 times higher lung cancer risk

A narrow region on chromosome 15 contains genetic variations strongly associated with familial lung cancer, says a study conducted by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The researchers found a more than five times higher risk of lung cancer for people who have both a family history of the disease and these genetic variations. The risk was not affected by whether the study participants smoked or didn't smoke.

Early stage colon cancer characterized by inactivation of gatekeeper gene

The absence or inactivation of the RUNX3 gatekeeper gene paves the way for the growth and development of colon cancer, Singapore scientists report in the Sept. issue of the journal Cancer Cell. Previous studies have shown that RUNX3 plays a role in gastric, breast, lung and bladder cancers.

The inactivation of RUNX3 occurs at a very early stage of colon cancer, according to the Singapore scientists' studies with human tissue samples and animal models.

Human embryonic stem cell secretions minimized tissue injury after heart attack

A novel way to improve survival and recovery rate after a heart attack was reported in the journal Stem Cell Research by scientists at Singapore's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) and Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) and The Netherlands' University Medical Center Utrecht.

This method, developed in laboratory research with pigs, is the first non-cell based therapeutic application of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). It entails using secretions from stem cells.

Penn researchers identify natural tumor suppressor

PHILADELPHIA - Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a key step in the formation – and suppression – of esophageal cancers and perhaps carcinomas of the breast, head, and neck. By studying human tissue samples, they found that Fbx4, a naturally occurring enzyme, plays a key role in stopping production of another protein called Cyclin D1, which is thought to contribute to the early stages of cancer development.

Advanced blood analysis may speed diagnosis of heart attacks

Someday doctors may be able to use a blood test to confirm within minutes, instead of hours, if a patient is having a heart attack, allowing more rapid treatment that could limit damage to heart muscle. A study led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT reports that a new technique that measures hundreds of molecular markers in the blood can identify those released when cardiac tissue is injured by a lack of oxygen.

Cortisol and fatty liver: Researchers find cause of severe metabolic disorders

A healthy body stores fat in the form of so-called triglycerides in specialized fatty tissue as an energy reserve. Under certain conditions the delicate balance of the lipid metabolism gets out of control and fat is accumulated in the liver, leading to the dreaded fatty liver. This increases the risk of many metabolic diseases, such as the metabolic syndrome known as "deadly quartet". This combination of fatty liver, obesity, diabetes and hypertension is regarded as the primary cause of life-threatening vascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke.

Gender of supervisor influences workers' mental and physical health

TORONTO, ON. – A person's gender in a leadership role is associated with their subordinate's mental and physical health according to new research out of the University of Toronto.

Many cancer patients receive insufficient pain management therapy

Pain is one of the most common symptoms of cancer patients, yet many of them do not receive adequate therapy for the pain caused by their disease or treatments, according to a study in the September 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

Iowa State study finds link between a mother's stress and her child becoming overweight

AMES, Iowa -- A mother's stress may contribute to her young children being overweight in low income households with sufficient food, according to a new Iowa State University study published in the September issue of Pediatrics, the professional journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The study analyzed data collected from 841 children in 425 households in the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Photos reveal Myanmar's large and small predators

NEW YORK (September 4, 2008)—Using remote camera traps to lift the veil on Myanmar's dense northern wild lands, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society have painstakingly gathered a bank of valuable data on the country's populations of tigers and other smaller, lesser known carnivores (see photo attachments). These findings will help in the formulation of conservation strategies for the country's wildlife.

PTB unites magnetic resonance and radar technology in 1 prototype

Don't move a muscle! Patients certainly have to take this request to heart if they have to lie in a magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) device – otherwise movement artefacts result on the images produced by the MRT. These are distorting elements in the image which show the movement of the body, but not the body itself. Movement is a disturbing factor which leads to blurring and "ghosting" in the MRT image. Patients, however, have to have not only a lot of patience but also endurance, as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test can take up to 30 minutes.

Dance to the music: Learning and exercising at YMCA can prevent diabetes

INDIANAPOLIS – Community-based exercise organizations, such as the YMCA, are an effective tool in the fight against diabetes, according to a study by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers in the October 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

How to differentiate benign from malignant bile duct strictures?

The main etiology of bile duct strictures closely related to the liver is a malignancy (cancer). However, the differentiation of benign and malignant strictures is notoriously difficult. The consequences for the patient are considerable because cancer in this anatomical location requires extensive surgery with removal of a large part of the liver. Extensive work-up including multi-slice computed tomography (CT), colour Doppler ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may improve the diagnostic dilemma.

Unique animal species can survive in space

Water bears (tardigrades) are the first animals in the world to have survived exposure to the vacuum and radiation of space. This has been established by Ingemar Jönsson, a researcher at Kristianstad University in Sweden.

It has been nearly a year since the ecologist Ingemar Jönsson had some 3,000 microscopic water bears sent up on a twelve-day space trip. The aim of the research project, which was supported by the European Space Agency, was to find out more about the basic physiology of tardigrades by seeing if they can survive in a space environment.