In three new studies published in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs, Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers reveal the staggering economic impact of toxic chemicals and air pollutants in the environment, and propose new legislation to mandate testing of new chemicals and also those already on the market.
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(Boston) - When the human genome project produced a map of human genes, the number of genes in humans turned out to be relatively small, approximately the same number as in primitive nematode worms. The difference in complexity between human and primitive organisms results from the ways in which the functions of genes are elaborated, rather from just the number of genes. Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers are showing how heparan sulfate, a carbohydrate that is expressed on the surface of all human cells, adjusts the functions of growth factor proteins.
The ability to use nanoparticles to deliver payloads of cancer-fighting drugs to tumors in the body could herald a fundamental change in chemotherapy treatment. But scientists are still at a relatively early stage in the implementation of this technology.
A protein capable of halting the spread of breast cancer cells could lead to a therapy for preventing or limiting the spread of the disease.
"Cancer researchers want to design new therapeutic strategies in which the metastasis or spreading stage of cancer can be blocked," explains Andrew Craig, lead researcher and a professor in Queen's Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Research Institute. "Patients stand a much better chance of survival if the primary tumor is the only tumor that needs to be treated."
(Edmonton) For patients suffering from cancer in the mouth or throat, a recent study shows that a treatment called submandibular gland transfer will assist in preventing a radiation-induced condition called xerostomia.
Also known as dry mouth, xerostomia occurs when salivary glands stop working. University of Alberta researcher Jana Rieger likens the feeling of xerostomia to the experience of the after-effects of having surgery and anesthetic—but the feeling is permanent.
Patients who received therapy for cancer during childhood have an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal (GI) complications later in life, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Compared with their siblings, cancer survivors had an increased risk of late-onset complications of the upper GI tract, lower GI tract and liver.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Air pollution from industrial sources near Michigan public schools jeopardizes children's health and academic success, according to a new study from University of Michigan researchers.
The researchers found that schools located in areas with the state's highest industrial air pollution levels had the lowest attendance rates---an indicator of poor health---as well as the highest proportions of students who failed to meet state educational testing standards.
Contrary to what we've been told, eliminating or severely limiting fats from the diet may not be beneficial to cardiac function in patients suffering from heart failure, a study at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reports.
Results from biological model studies conducted by assistant professor of physiology and biophysics Margaret Chandler, PhD, and other researchers, demonstrate that a high-fat diet improved overall mechanical function, in other words, the heart's ability to pump, and was accompanied by cardiac insulin resistance.
Exercise both reduces the risk of a heart attack and protects the heart from injury if a heart attack does occur. For years, doctors have been trying to dissect how this second benefit of exercise works, with the aim of finding ways to protect the heart after a heart attack.
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified the ability of the heart to produce and store nitric oxide as an important way exercise protects the heart from injury.
CHICAGO --- Staying up late every night and sleeping in is a habit that could put you at risk for gaining weight. People who go to bed late and sleep late eat more calories in the evening, more fast food, fewer fruits and vegetables and weigh more than people who go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
Scientists are reporting development and successful testing of a new way to determine whether cola drinks — advertised as being made with natural ingredients and sold at premium prices — really do contain natural flavoring. The report appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.
If small business owners want to avoid costly mistakes, it pays to consult with others.
That's the finding of new research from the University of Cincinnati that will be presented both nationally and internationally – first on May 6-8 at the Family Enterprise Research Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., and again on June 15-18 at the International Council of Small Business Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the presence of social media continues to increase as a form of communication, health organizations are searching for the most effective ways to use the online tools to pass important information to the public. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that nonprofit organizations and community groups appear to be more actively engaged in posting health information and interacting with the public on Twitter than other types of health-related organizations, such as health business corporations, educational institutions and government agencies.
Scars on the jaw of a 120 million year old marine reptile suggest that life might not have been easy in the ancient polar oceans. The healed bite wounds were probably made by a member of the same species. Such injuries give important clues about the social behaviour of extinct sea creatures from the time of dinosaurs. The find is described in a forthcoming issue of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
In the midst of ongoing concerns about radiation exposure from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, scientists are reporting that a substance similar to resveratrol — an antioxidant found in red wine, grapes and nuts — could protect against radiation sickness. The report appears in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.