Body | Page 4494 | Science Codex

Women with atrial fibrillation are at significantly higher risk of stroke and death compared to men

(CHICAGO) – Even though the incidence of atrial fibrillation is higher in men than women, a review of past studies and medical literature completed by cardiac experts at Rush University Medical Center shows that women are more likely than men to experience symptomatic attacks, a higher frequency of recurrences, and significantly higher heart rates during atrial fibrillation, which increases the risk of stroke.

Findings from the review of past studies will be published in the September issue of Gender Medicine.

All tied up: Tethered protein provides long-sought answer

HOUSTON -- (Sept. 22, 2009) -- The tools of biochemistry have finally caught up with lactose repressor protein. Biologists from Rice University in Houston and the University of Florence in Italy this week published new results about "lac repressor," which was the first known genetic regulatory protein when discovered in 1966.

New discovery reveals fate of nanoparticles in human cells

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have uncovered what happens to biomimetic nanoparticles when they enter human cells. They found that the important proteins that make up the outer layer of these nanoparticles are degraded by an enzyme called cathepsin L. Scientists now have to take this phenomenon into account and overcome this process to ensure the exciting field of nanomedicine can progress. The research is published today (22 September) in ACS Nano.

Explaining why pruning encourages plants to thrive

Scientists have shown that the main shoot dominates a plant's growth principally because it was there first, rather than due to its position at the top of the plant.

Collaborating teams from the University of York in the UK and the University of Calgary in Canada combined their expertise in molecular genetics and computational modelling to make a significant discovery that helps explain why pruning encourages plants to thrive.

To regenerate muscle, cellular garbage men must become builders

For scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, what seemed like a disappointing result turned out to be an important discovery. Their findings, published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provide conclusive proof that, when a muscle is injured, white blood cells called macrophages play a crucial role in its regeneration.

New species of ghostshark discovered off the coast of California

New species are not just discovered in exotic locales—even places as urban as California still yield discoveries of new plants and animals. Academy scientists recently named a new species of chimaera, an ancient and bizarre group of fishes distantly related to sharks, from the coast of Southern California and Baja California, Mexico. The new species, the Eastern Pacific black ghostshark (Hydrolagus melanophasma), was described in the September issue of the international journal Zootaxa by a research team including Academy Research Associates David Ebert and Douglas J. Long.

Hormone therapy increases risk of heart disease for prostate cancer patients

Berlin, Germany: New research has found that hormone therapy used to treat men with advanced prostate cancer is associated with an increased chance of developing various heart problems. Some choices of therapy appear, however, to be less risky than others.

New report shows rising tide of fractures in Asia

A new audit report issued by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) today shows that osteoporosis is a serious and growing problem throughout Asia.

Gathering data from 14 Asian countries, regions or territories, 'The Asian Audit' is a landmark report examining epidemiology, costs and burden in individual countries as well as collectively across the region. The report's key findings include:

A major increase in fractures is predicted for Asia as a whole

Pancreatic fat levels may help predict diabetes, researchers say

DALLAS – Sept. 17, 2009 – Researchers have long suspected that overweight people tend to have large fat deposits in their pancreases, but they've been unable to confirm or calculate how much fat resides there because of the organ's location.

Until now.

Spontaneous and medically induced preterm births contribute equally to the rising rate of preterm births

Research published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine shows that the rising rate of preterm birth in Scotland is as much a result of an increase in spontaneous preterm birth as it is of preterm birth that is medically-induced to avoid risking the lives of the mother and child.

More babies born prematurely but survival rates up

Premature births have increased significantly although survival rates of babies born early have improved dramatically, a study shows.

The risk of neonatal death from premature birth more than halved during a 25 year period and there has also been a 10 per cent reduction in stillbirth associated with pre-term births.

The University of Edinburgh research analysed data relating to nearly 90,000 births in Scotland between 1980 and 2005.

Minimal training saves lives with airway mask

Virtually anyone has the skills to safely insert a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) to keep a patient's airway open during resuscitation, and medical expertise isn't required – perhaps just a familiarity with ER, House or Grey's Anatomy. A study, published in the open access journal BMC Emergency Medicine, also found that just two hours of training was enough to make first-responders faster and more efficient during these highly critical situations.

Old red blood cells may double mortality in trauma patients

Severe trauma patients requiring a major transfusion are twice as likely to die if they receive red blood cells stored for a month or longer, according to research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care. The increased rate of death was measured up to six months post transfusion which is consistent with previous reports in cardiac surgery patients.

Adding cetuximab to chemotherapy reduces advanced lung cancer death risk by 13 percent

Berlin, Germany: Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who are given cetuximab (Erbitux) in addition to chemotherapy are 13% less likely to die than those who receive chemotherapy alone, regardless of which chemotherapy drug cocktail is used, new research finds. They also experience slower disease progression and an increased chance of tumour shrinkage.

Study of adjuvant endocrine treatment for breast cancer reveals cost of noncompliance

Berlin, Germany: The largest study in the world of treatments for post menopausal, hormone positive breast cancer has shown that patients who continue to take exemestane or tamoxifen do significantly better than patients who start to take one or other drug (or tamoxifen followed exemestane) but then stop.