Body

Folsom, Calif., (April 4, 2016) - Initial findings from the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) study presented at Experimental Biology 2016 (EB) indicate that daily walnut consumption positively impacts blood cholesterol levels without adverse effects on body weight among older adults.1 The WAHA study is a dual site two-year clinical trial conducted by researchers from the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and Loma Linda University and is aimed at determining the effect of walnuts on age-related health issues.

Boston, MA - The parasite responsible for a form of malaria now spreading from macaques to humans in South Asia could evolve to infect humans more efficiently, a step towards enhanced transmission between humans, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The researchers say that defining the means by which the Plasmodium knowlesi parasite invades red blood cells could lead to interventions to prevent the emergence of the zoonosis into the human population.

Little is known about the molecular basis of aberrant protein glycosylation, a complex enzymatic process that is a hallmark of many human cancers including colorectal cancers (CRC), and how it may contribute to tumor progression. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, an online journal of the Nature Publishing Group, scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have successfully characterized the mutational landscapes of glycosylation-associated genes in colon cancer, identifying three glycosyltransferases as significant mutational targets in CRC.

SAN DIEGO, CA - April 4, 2016 - A flurry of new research on red raspberries is set to be presented this week at the 2016 Experimental Biology conference in San Diego. Initial findings from six animal model studies reveal the potential effects of red raspberry consumption on cardiovascular disease risk reduction, maintaining normal blood glucose levels and liver function as well as potential anti-inflammatory effects related to bone health.

Some people with heart disease experience a restriction of blood flow to the heart in response to psychological stress. Usually silent (not painful), the temporary restriction in blood flow, called ischemia, is an indicator of greater mortality risk.

Cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered that people in this group tend to have higher levels of troponin -- a protein whose presence in the blood that is a sign of recent damage to the heart muscle-- all the time, independently of whether they are experiencing stress or chest pain at that moment.

EMBARGOED UNTIL 8 a.m. CT, Sunday, April 3, 2016, Chicago: Cleveland Clinic researchers studying evacetrapib have shown that despite reducing levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad" cholesterol) by 37 percent and raising levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good" cholesterol) by 130 percent, the drug failed to reduce rates of major cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, angina or cardiovascular death.

A study from an international research team finds that familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) - a genetic condition that causes greatly elevated levels of LDL cholesterol throughout life - accounts for less than 2 percent of severely elevated LDL in the general population. But the team also found that the risk of coronary artery disease is significantly higher in individuals with FH than in people with similarly elevated LDL levels who do not have these mutations.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (April 3, 2016) -- A safe, new, minimally invasive treatment, developed by interventional radiologists, led to sustained weight loss in severely obese people, according to research presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting. Researchers said the treatment--bariatric arterial embolization (BAE)--could offer individuals a viable, safe alternative to surgical weight-loss treatments.

People with high levels of "good" cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein, are not as safe from heart disease when high levels of a newly identified biomarker of inflammation in the arteries are also found in their bloodstream, according to a new study.

In the study of nearly 3,000 patients, researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City discovered that the presence of high levels of the biomarker glycoprotein acetylation, or GlycA, was associated with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Low levels of total vitamin D and bioavailable vitamin D can help predict a person's risk of major adverse cardiovascular events such as a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or death, according to a first-of-its-kind study from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City.

"Our study found that low levels of both total vitamin D and bioavailable vitamin D appear to be associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes," said lead author Heidi May, PhD, MSPH, a cardiovascular epidemiologist with the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute.

Boston, MA-- Researchers are exploring one possible physiologic explanation of why prior studies have demonstrated a higher risk of breast cancer in women who experience high levels of illumination at night. Their study results in an animal model will be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society's 98th annual meeting in Boston.

The mammary gland in the female appears to be sensitive to changes in light exposure, initially reacting to excess nighttime light in ways that might lead to tumor development, a research team from Oregon State University in Corvallis discovered.

Boston, MA--Northwestern University scientists created a prosthetic ovary using a 3D printer - an implant that allowed mice that had their ovaries surgically removed to bear live young. The results will be presented Saturday, April 2, at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, ENDO 2016, in Boston.

Boston, MA - In older people, higher dietary calcium intake may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, but not of stroke and fracture, new research from South Korea suggests. The results will be presented in a poster Saturday, April 2, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston.

Boston, MA-- Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) blood levels may provide a useful biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in obese adolescent girls, new research suggests. The results will be presented Saturday, April 2, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston.

Boston, MA-- Women of reproductive age who have thyroid cancer should be cautious about receiving radioactive iodine treatment, which affects their remaining egg supply - their ovarian reserve - and may affect their fertility, new research from Israel finds. The results of this ongoing study will be presented Saturday, April 2, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston.