Body

Increasing selenium intake may decrease bladder cancer risk

PHILADELPHIA — A common mineral may provide protection against bladder cancer.

According to results of a study published in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, selenium intake is associated with decreased risk of bladder cancer.

Diverse diet of veggies may decrease lung cancer risk

PHILADELPHIA — Adding a variety of vegetables to one's diet may help decrease the chance of getting lung cancer, and adding a variety of fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of squamous cell lung cancer, especially among smokers.

Photo album tells story of wildlife decline

NEW YORK (August 30, 2010) – With a simple click of the camera, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London have developed a new way to accurately monitor long-term trends in rare and vanishing species over large landscapes.

Investigators from the International Headache Genetics Consortium, a world-wide collaboration of researchers, have identified the first-ever genetic risk factor associated with common types of migraine. Researchers looked at genetic data of more than 50,000 people and found new insights into the triggers for migraines attacks, which commonly begin in puberty and but tend to affect people aged between 20 to 45 years of age. Migraine affects approximately one in six women and one in 12 men.

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (08/31/10) -- A new media marketing world increasingly dominated by mobile technologies, "shopping bots," recommendation systems and peer-to-peer networks has spawned a radical new online marketplace, challenging the old behaviors of buyers and sellers, according to a new report in the Journal of Service Research.

Girls are hitting puberty earlier and earlier. One recent study found that more than 10 percent of American girls have some breast development by age 7. This news has upset many people, but it may make evolutionary sense in some cases for girls to develop faster, according to the authors of a new paper published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

TORONTO, August 31, 2010 − A York University doctoral student who discovered a new species of bee on his way to the lab one morning has completed a study that examines 84 species of sweat bees in Canada. Nineteen of these species – including the one Jason Gibbs found in downtown Toronto − are new to science because they have never been identified or described before.

Richard Lamb and his post doctoral fellow Virginie Mieulet, in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, may be able to explain why proper nutrition is so vital in fighting infection.

They have discovered an amino acid, called arginine, is required to let the body know that it's being attacked by an infection.

It is still early in their work but this discovery could have implications for the millions of people in third world countries that do not get enough food and consequently become ill with infection.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – New research on how skin cancer begins has identified adjacent cancer cells that scientists are calling "co-conspirators" in the genesis of melanoma, in findings that could someday hold the key to predicting, preventing and stopping this hard-to-treat cancer before it spreads.

Changes in the body's pigment-producing cells, where melanoma - the most dangerous form of skin cancer - takes hold are only part of the story, according to a new study by researchers from Oregon State University.

In the winter of 1979, the world celebrated the end of smallpox, a highly contagious and often fatal viral infection estimated to have caused between 300 and 500 million deaths during the 20th century.

The virus was eradicated through an aggressive worldwide vaccination campaign, which itself ended in 1980. After all, with no virus, there was no longer a need for a vaccine. Now, researchers at UCLA say the elimination of the smallpox vaccine has allowed a related virus to thrive.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A study of triathletes published in the online edition and October issue of Radiology reveals that the heart adapts to triathlon training by working more efficiently.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study using MRI to investigate effects of triathlon training on cardiac adaptations," said lead researcher Michael M. Lell, M.D., associate professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany.

Patients with acute coronary syndromes initially treated with the anticoagulant fondaparinux who underwent a coronary procedure (such as balloon angioplasty) and received a lower dose of the anticoagulant heparin during the procedure did not have a reduced rate of major bleeding and vascular access site complications, according to a study that will appear in the September 22 issue of JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Stockholm.

A landmark international study, coordinated by McMaster University, has found that lower doses of a blood thinner called unfractionated heparin (UFH) during angioplasty did not reduce bleeding or vascular complications compared to standard dose UFH in patients initially treated with a blood thinner, fondaparinux.