It's generally known that African Americans have the highest risk for glaucoma (about 12 percent) among racial groups in the United States. They are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic white Americans (5.6 percent) to develop this potentially blinding disease. But little was known about risks for Asian Americans until a National Eye Institute funded study published recently in Ophthalmology journal (online). By reviewing insurance records of more than 44,000 Asian Americans older than 40, the researchers found their glaucoma risk to be 6.5 percent, which is about the same as U.S.
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Hamilton, ON (April 4, 2011) - In the future you may hear the doctor say: "Give me your arm and I'll do some heart surgery."
A landmark international study coordinated by the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences has found accessing blocked arteries through the forearm compared to groin led to fewer vascular complications and similar success rates for angioplasty.
URBANA – Although the apple genome has already been sequenced, it can still take years for an apple breeder to see the first actual piece of fruit on a tree. That's why University of Illinois plant molecular geneticist Schuyler Korban jumped at the chance to help sequence the genome of the woodland strawberry – a close relative of the apple that blooms in a mere 15 weeks, making his work much more efficient.
CHICAGO (April 4, 2011) – A new risk calculator can predict the risk of postoperative complications occurring for individual bariatric surgery patients, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The risk calculator will help in surgical decision-making and will help patients better understand what they can expect during recovery in order to prepare for a bariatric operation.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a genetic anomaly that may drive the aggressive spread of a rare subset of prostate cancers.
They found mutations of a gene called KRAS, which is known to play a role in numerous cancers but is rarely associated with prostate cancer. The mutation – in which two pieces of the chromosome change places and fuse together – was seen only in metastatic prostate cancer, an advanced form in which the disease has spread to distant parts of the body.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine are working on a series of genetic analyses that suggest the underlying differences among racial groups are present not just in tumors, but in normal tissue as well. Lisa Baumbach, Ph.D., associate research professor, and colleagues will present the full study results at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6.
Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a new gene that can influence a person's risk for developing epilepsy. The findings, reported in the March 29 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve molecular diagnostic tools and point to novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy.
New guidelines issued by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) support the use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to remove precancerous cells in patients with Barrett's esophagus, a condition most commonly caused by chronic acid reflux, or GERD. Barrett's esophagus is the leading cause of esophageal cancer and affects an estimated two million Americans. While traditionally managed through watchful waiting, experts at Northwestern Medicine's Center for Esophageal Disease have been among the pioneers of ablation treatment and have long seen the benefits of early treatment.
An 18-year study of 27,000 individual trees by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientists finds that tree growth and fecundity--the ability to produce viable seeds--are more sensitive to climate change than previously thought.
The results, published tomorrow in the journal Global Change Biology, identify earlier spring warming as one of several factors that affect tree reproduction and growth.
Scientists at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and Harvard Medical School, Boston have found a way of mimicking the body's natural mechanism of fighting inflammation. During inflammation cells release very small particles termed 'microparticles' that retain features of their parent cell. The scientists discovered that certain microparticles were beneficial to health, and that these microparticles contained anti-inflammatory lipids, which help terminate inflammation and return the body to its normal balance.
(Edmonton) A University of Alberta-led research team has determined that the mountain pine beetle has invaded jack pine forests in Alberta, opening up the possibility for an infestation that could stretch across the Prairies and keep moving east towards the Atlantic. . A group of U of A tree biologists and geneticists discovered that, as the mountain pine beetle spread eastward from central British Columbia, it successfully jumped species from its main host, the lodgepole pine, to the jack pine.
Fertility is a priority for many young women with breast cancer, yet new research has found many have little knowledge about fertility issues, leading to confusion and conflict around planning for a family.
In a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a team of University of New South Wales researchers has for the first time measured fertility-related knowledge and intentions in young women with breast cancer.
When soybean rust first appeared in the United States in late 2004, many producers feared devastating yield losses similar to losses experienced in other parts of the world. In response to this threat, researchers have been evaluating USDA soybean germplasm accessions for resistance to this fungus, and a recent report in Crop Science identifies some of these resistant sources.
(PRINCETON, N.J., March 31, 2011) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY)today announced results from a Phase II clinical trial in which treatment with the investigationaldirect-acting antiviral (DAA) BMS-790052, an NS5A replication complex inhibitor, incombination with PEG-Interferon alfa and ribavirin (RBV), achieved sustained virologicresponse 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) in up to 92% of treatment-naïve patients chronicallyinfected with hepatitis C (HCV) genotype 1 (10 mg dose arm, n=12).
ORLANDO - Two sets of gene expression profiles predict response to a common lung cancer drug for patients that have no guiding indicators for their treatment now, scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting.