Body

In a study published online by JAMA Surgery, Art Sedrakyan, M.D., Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, and colleagues examined the use of breast conservation surgery (BCS) in New York State and determined rates of reoperation, procedure choice, and the effect of surgeon experience on the odds of a reoperation 90 days after BCS. The study included from New York State mandatory reporting databases a population-based sample of 89,448 women undergoing primary BCS for cancer who were examined from January 2003 to December 2013.

A study of trends in Body Mass Index (BMI) since 1992 for England has found that whilst BMI is rising across both sexes and within all social groups, there have been larger increases in those who already have the highest BMIs.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool's Department of Geography analysed data from the Health Survey for England, an annual health survey that captures health information including height and weight measurements for adults aged over 20.

The drug alirocumab (trade name: Praluent) has been approved since September 2015 for adults with hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia whose cholesterol levels are not adequately lowered by diet and other drugs. It can also be used if statins are not a treatment option or are not tolerated because of adverse events.

Scientists have discovered that a specialised white blood cell found in birds can destroy a potentially fatal fungal infection which affects more than one million people every year.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungus that causes fatal infections in those with a weakened immune system. It is one of the most dangerous infections of individuals with AIDS and is thought to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, every year.

Professor Cecilie Svanes at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Bergen (UiB) has recently discovered three development factors that influence aging of the lungs.

"Having a mother who smoked when she was pregnant with you will affect your lungs in a negative way. The same is the case if you were born during the winter months, or if you experienced a severe respiratory infection at a very young age," Cecilie Svanes explains.

Early life factors influence the lungs

In addition to improving survival and reducing disability, mechanically removing the clot causing an ischemic stroke leads to better cognitive functioning, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2016.

Ninety days after an ischemic stroke in 206 people who previously had no cognitive problems, researchers administered two tests of executive functioning to the survivors.

(WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2016) - New research published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), identifies common genetic variants predominantly found in African Americans that double their risk for blood clots.

By using 3D printing to make casts fir realistic artificial flowers, researchers have discovered how a type of orchid deceives flies into pollinating it, by pretending to be a mushroom.

By uncovering the 3-dimensional structure of an enzyme that is critical for the survival of the bacterium that cause tuberculosis, researchers may be one step closer to developing a new strategy to combat TB infections.

New research in mice provides convincing evidence that digoxin, a drug prescribed to treat atrial fibrillation, can help protect against atherosclerosis.

Investigators found that digoxin decreased the levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol by 41%, 54%, and 20%, respectively, in mice treated with high-dose digoxin compared with control mice.

The findings are published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Source: Wiley

Dublin: Tuberculosis (TB) used to kill one in seven people around the world before the advent of antibiotics. However the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant TB means that doctors are running out of options in trying to combat this bacterium.

In addition, globally TB currently ranks alongside HIV as the leading cause of death worldwide, killing 1.5 million in 2014.

A new initiative seeks to bring findings from mental health research into the clinic, with the goal of developing better treatments for psychological disorders.

The National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) provides a detailed framework to accomplish this, and an article in Psychophysiology spotlights RDoC-oriented research related to a range of conditions.

Source: Wiley

Denver, CO. (February 17, 2016) - U.S. children are not consuming enough vegetables, resulting in an inadequate intake of key nutrients, including potassium and dietary fiber, which are important for growth, development and overall health. Research published (January 2016) in a special supplement of the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Nutrition demonstrated that children ages 1-3 years of age consumed just 67 percent of the dietary reference intakes (DRI) for potassium and 55 percent of the DRI for fiber.

Boston - Synthetic biologists are learning to turn microbes and unicellular organisms into highly productive factories by re-engineering their metabolism to produce valued commodities such as fine chemicals, therapeutics and biofuels. To speed up identification of the most efficient producers, researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering describe new approaches to this process and demonstrate how genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors can enable the generation and testing of billions of individual variants of a metabolic pathway in record time.

February 17, 2016 -- Adults who use marijuana are five times more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder (AUD) --alcohol abuse or dependence-- compared with adults who do not use the drug. And adults who already have an alcohol use disorder and use marijuana are more likely to see the problem persist. Results of a study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the City University of New York appear online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.