Body

Eutrophication makes toxic cyanobacteria more toxic

Continued eutrophication of the Baltic Sea, combined with an ever thinner ozone layer, is favouring the toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The risk of having a heart attack is 60 per cent higher just a year after a patient has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research published in the December issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Swedish researchers followed 7,469 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) between 1995 and 2006, together with 37,024 matched controls without RA to determine the risk of ischaemic heart disease, with particular reference to myocardial infarction (heart attack). The maximum follow-up was 12 years and the median was just over four years.

Tapping into young people's use of online social networks presents health agencies with a powerful opportunity to help control the rise in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in homeless youth in Los Angeles. According to new research1 by Sean Young from UCLA and Eric Rice from USC in the US, online social networking - and the topics discussed on these networks - have the potential to affect sexual risk behaviors.

(ORLANDO, December 5, 2010) – The next generation of drug therapies and enhanced treatment approaches for various forms of lymphoma are evolving as researchers continue to better understand how these cancers progress. Research will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology introducing promising new options for the standard treatment of advanced asymptomatic follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, and early, unfavorable (referring to patients with clinical stage I or II disease and one or more risk factors) Hodgkin disease.

(ORLANDO, December 5, 2010) – Results from four innovative studies help answer outstanding questions about stem cell transplant procedures in treating various hematologic malignancies. Research will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology reveals that there is no increase in overall cancer risk in people who donate stem cells and that the utilization of a double cord blood stem cell transplant is associated with better overall outcomes when used early in the treatment of acute leukemias.

If a strand of your DNA was stretched out completely, it would be more than six feet long. It's hard to imagine that it can fit inside the nucleus of one of your cells, but that's exactly how it works.

Phase I trial indicates ponatinib may thwart most resistant CML

ORLANDO – A new drug appears to help chronic myeloid leukemia patients who are out of treatment options after first- and second-line drugs have failed them or because their cancer cells have a mutation that makes them resistant from the start, researchers reported at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

(ORLANDO, December 4, 2010) – Red blood cells (RBCs) have the very important role of carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body; therefore, disorders that affect RBCs can have a significant impact on quality of life. Sickle cell disease and malaria are two common RBC diseases that affect a significant portion of the U.S. and global populations.

(ORLANDO, December 4, 2010) – The latest advances in the treatment of bleeding and clotting disorders will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, focusing on venous thrombeombolism (VTE), a potentially life-threatening disorder in which abnormal blood clots form in the veins and restrict the flow of blood. New studies examine risk-prediction models and cutting-edge treatment options for patients with VTE.

(ORLANDO, December 4, 2010) – Over the past decade, significant advances have been made in the treatment of leukemia through the ongoing development of gene-based targeted therapies. Research that will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology provides greater understanding of the optimal use of several BCR-ABL inhibitors for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and how a new gene target functions for several myeloid malignancies.

December 3, 2010 (PASADENA, Calif.) – Cigarette smoking is widespread among children and young adults with diabetes yet few health care providers are counseling children and young adults with diabetes to not smoke or stop smoking, according to a new report from the SEARCH Study Group, published online in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Children and young adults with diabetes are already at high risk for heart disease before they take up smoking but few studies have examined the association between cigarette smoking and heart disease risk factors in youth with diabetes.

Foreign pests are eating their way through our national forests, destroying majestic scenery and costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

If enforcement efforts to prevent their importation aren't stepped up, irreplaceable resources will be lost forever and taxpayers can expect to fork over billions of dollars by 2019, according to a comprehensive study published today in BioScience.

An expert panel sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has issued comprehensive U.S. guidelines to assist health care professionals in diagnosing food allergy and managing the care of people with the disease.

For the first time, researchers have established a clear link between accepting family attitudes and behaviors towards their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) children and significantly decreased risk and better overall health in adulthood. The study shows that specific parental and caregiver behaviors -- such as advocating for their children when they are mistreated because of their LGBT identity or supporting their gender expression -- protect againstdepression, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in early adulthood.