Body

Although diseases of the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease, CVD) kill more people worldwide than anything else, with 17.3 million deaths globally, cancer has now overtaken CVD as the main cause of death in 12 European countries.

Prostate and lung cancer have been the No. 1 and 2 cancers among men. Stomach cancer, the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, has been on a steady decline among Koreans and Japanese. Black men had the highest overall rates of cancer. Thyroid cancer -- which is relatively treatable -- has been on the rise, and women are about three times more likely to contract it than men.

Researchers have discovered that secondary infection with the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium (or "superbug") often kills influenza patients because the flu virus alters the antibacterial response of white blood cells, causing them to damage the patients' lungs instead of destroying the bacterium.

Scientists in Germany have developed a new approach that may prevent leukemia and lymphoma patients from developing graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) after therapeutic bone marrow transplants. The researchers describe the successful application of their strategy in mice in "Exogenous TNFR2 activation protects from acute GvHD via host T reg cell expansion," which will be published online August 15 ahead of issue in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and reduced in fats and saturated fats (the DASH diet), designed decades ago to reduce high blood pressure, also appears to significantly lower uric acid, the causative agent of gout. Further, the effect was so strong in some participants that it was nearly comparable to that achieved with drugs specifically prescribed to treat gout, a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers shows.

New research indicates that a healthy diet can effectively lower blood levels of uric acid, a known trigger of gout. The findings are published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

Elevated uric acid in the blood plays a key role in gout, an extremely painful form of arthritis that results in profound disability and healthcare expenses. Diet has long been identified as an important determinant of blood uric acid levels, but there is virtually no clinical trial evidence to inform food choice by physicians and patients.

ITHACA, NY--An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of the tobacco hornworm--a caterpillar species used in many research laboratories for studies of insect biology.

Professor Gary Blissard of the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University, and Professor Michael Kanost of Kansas State University, initiated the study and are co-senior authors on this large international project that included 114 researchers from 50 institutions and 11 countries.

Think one little sugary soda won't make a difference on your waistline? Think again.

If people replace just one calorie-laden drink with water, they can reduce body weight and improve overall health, according to a Virginia Tech researcher.

If you are a male barn swallow in the United States or the Mediterranean with dark red breast feathers, you're apt to wow potential mates. But if you have long outer tail feathers in the United States, or short ones in the Mediterranean, the females may not be so impressed.

"Whooo ... are ... you?" asked the hookah-smoking caterpillar of Alice, in Wonderland. Asking the question of the caterpillar instead, an international team of scientists have published their findings from the sequencing, annotation, and exploration of the genome of the tobacco hornworm moth. The project involved 114 scientists from 50 research institutions worldwide, including from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the University of Geneva (UNIGE).

BETHESDA, MD--The problem of persistence has long troubled undergraduate programs hoping to guide promising students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups into science careers, but a new study by science education researchers at the University of Wisconsin says that the problem appears to be translating students' initial interest into confidence that they can proceed in science.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital immunologists have identified the protein trigger in the body's quick-reaction innate immune system that specifically recognizes the influenza virus in infected cells and triggers their death.

Washington, DC - August 12, 2016 - Gingivitis, a common and mild form of gum disease can progress to periodontitis, a more serious infection that damages the soft tissue of the gums and sometimes even destroys the bone supporting the teeth. An international team of researchers and clinicians has charted the microbial ecology of the mouth at all stages of this progression, in nearly 1,000 women in Malawi. This work is laying a foundation of knowledge that could lead to better oral health.

In Switzerland, between 300,000 and 700,000 patients per year visit a doctor due to acute diarrhoea. Until now, the financial burden on the Swiss health care system had been completely unclear. The study, recently published in the scientific journal Epidemiology & Infection, estimates the costs entailed until a patient is cured.

Mouse models are extensively used in pharmaceutical and medical research, and it is known that the communities of microbes in their intestine can have a significant impact on the research output. However, there is still insufficient information available about many bacteria inhabiting the intestine of mice. For the first time, a collection of cultured bacterial strains provides comprehensive information on the mouse gut microbiota: Scientists at the Technical University of Munich were able to isolate, characterize, and archive a hundred strains, including 15 hitherto unknown taxa.