Body

Research has shown that light is the key to getting our 'body clocks' back in sync and now a new study exploring the resynchronisation mechanism in insects has discovered a molecule essential to the process.

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London looked at the impact of light on the circadian clocks (commonly known as 'body clocks') of fruit flies. They identified a novel molecule, QUASIMODO (QSM), which was intrinsically involved in relaying light-information to the flies' inner clocks.

The recommendation to drink six to eight glasses of water a day to prevent dehydration "is not only nonsense, but is thoroughly debunked nonsense," argues GP, Margaret McCartney in this week's BMJ.

There is currently no clear evidence of benefit from drinking increased amounts of water, she says, yet the "we-don't-drink-enough-water" myth has endless advocates, including the NHS.

In an analysis to examine how often throughout adulthood clinically significant changes occur in a patient's family history of cancer, researchers found substantial changes in family history of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer between the ages of 30 and 50 years, which would result in recommendations for earlier or more intense cancer screening, according to a study in the July 13 issue of JAMA. The authors suggest that a patient's family history of cancer be updated at least every 5 to 10 years.

Children and adolescents from states that had higher Medicaid payment levels to dentists between 2000 and 2008 were more likely to receive dental care, although children covered by Medicaid received dental care less often than children with private insurance, according to a study in the July 13 issue of JAMA.

Among the most important determinants of an individual's risk of cancer is family history, and the details of that history – whether and at what ages close relatives were diagnosed with particular tumors – can affect recommendations for screening examinations such as colonoscopies and mammograms. In the July 13 Journal of the American Medical Association a multi-institutional research team reports that changes in family history significant enough to alter screening recommendations are common in adults aged 30 to 50.

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN) has an extraordinarily potent antitumor effect on human ovarian cancer in tissue culture and xenografts established in nude mice. When LDN is combined with chemotherapy, there is an additive inhibitory action on tumorigenesis.