BOSTON (Dec. 2, 2010, 12:01 a.m. ET) — Exposure to a ubiquitous environmental chemical during pregnancy may impair reproductive capacity of female offspring, according to a study published online in advance of print on December 2 in Environmental Health Perspectives. Fertility decreased over time in female mice that had been exposed during fetal and neonatal (perinatal) development to doses of bisphenol-A (BPA) that were lower than or equal to human environmental exposure levels.
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Recurrent miscarriage increases a woman's chance of having a heart attack fivefold in later life, indicates research published online in the journal Heart.
Research indicates that miscarriage is one of the commonest complications of pregnancy, occurring in up to one in five pregnancies.
The authors base their findings on more than 11,500 women who were taking part in the Heidelberg arm of EPIC, a large European study that is tracking the impact of diet and lifestyle on disease, particularly cancer.
The inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn's disease produces its own variant of post traumatic stress (PTSD), indicates research published online in Frontline Gastroenterology.
PTSD creates a vicious circle by worsening the Crohn's symptoms, indicates the study.
Crohn's disease is incurable and can potentially affect the entire digestive tract, producing severe pain and diarrhoea. It is particularly common in Northern Europe, including the UK, and North America.
A study looking at deaths from any cause found that a body mass index (BMI) between 20.0 and 24.9 is associated with the lowest risk of death in healthy non-smoking adults. Investigators also provided precise estimates of the increased risk of death among people who are overweight and obese. Previous studies that examined the risks from being overweight were inconclusive, with some reporting only modestly increased risks of death and others showing a reduced risk. Also, the precise risks for different levels of obesity were uncertain.
Los Angeles, CA (December 1, 2010) – During the decade since the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), or 1996-2006, mortality among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) sharply decreased in the United States. So, too, did the percentages of PLWHA deaths attributable to AIDS-defining illnesses, just as there was a marked increase in the percentage of deaths attributable to heart, kidney, and liver disease.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Habitat destruction and species extinction may lead to an increase in diseases that infect humans and other species, according to a paper in the journal Nature co-authored by a University of Florida ecologist.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified a compound that prevents overproduction of thyroid hormone, a finding that brings scientists one step closer to improving treatment for Graves' disease.
In Graves' disease, the thyroid gland never stops. Thyroid-stimulating antibodies bind to receptors, activating them to keep the thyroid hormone coming and coming — like a broken traffic light stuck on green — and causing the body problems in regulating energy, controlling other hormones and maintaining cells throughout the body.
(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a mechanism by which specific viruses acting as oncolytic agents can enter and kill cancer cells. This finding, which is currently featured in an online edition of the Journal of Virology, could help lead to the development of more targeted treatments against many types of cancer.
The study was conducted by Ewan F. Dunn, a postdoctoral fellow, under the direction of John H. Connor, an assistant professor of microbiology at BUSM.
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (December 1, 2010) – University of Minnesota School of Public Health researcher Ellen Demerath, Ph.D., is among an international group of researchers that has identified 30 new genes responsible for determining the age of sexual maturation in women. Many of these genes are also known to influence body fatness, obesity, and energy metabolism. Prior to the multi-institutional study, only four genes had been identified as contributing to the process.
In Australia, when crossing from one state to another, travelers may encounter a quarantine stop and may be required to forfeit recently purchased fruits and vegetables as a hedge against invasive pests. But in the U.S., crossing state lines is free wheeling, according to researchers from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, who evaluated the threat of invasive pests to states from within the country.
Montreal December 1, 2010 – The versatile organism Lactococcus lactis, the workhorse bacterium that helps turn milk into cheese, may also be valuable in the understanding of how microbes turn the organic compound cellulose into biofuels.
New research from Concordia University, published in the journal Microbial Cell Factories, suggests the bacterium can be engineered to transform plant material into biofuels or other chemicals.
For the first time, scientists have described not only the identities and quantities of fat species in a living mammalian cell – in this case, a mouse macrophage or white blood cell – but they also report how these lipids react and change over time to a bacterial stimulus triggering the cell's immune response.
A gene that controls part of the 'tick tock' in a plant's circadian clock has been identified by UC Davis researchers. And not only is the plant gene very similar to one in humans, but the human gene can work in plant cells -- and vice versa. The research is published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Once lost in the mists of time, the colonial hydrology of the northeastern U.S. has been reconstructed by a team of geoscientists, biological scientists and social scientists.
The results, which extend as far back as the year 1600, appear in the current issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T).