Category Archives: Health

CU-Boulder Python Study May Have Implications for Human Heart Health

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Health, Sciencebeneficial growth of heart cells, blood of burmese pythons, blood plasma, bloodstreams, brooke harrison, cardiac health, cardio protective enzyme, cecilia riquelme, cyclist, fatty acids, fed python blood plasma, genetic heart diseases, healthy heart growth, heart disease conditions in humans, hiberna corp, human heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, jason magida, key enzyme, lance armstrong, leslie leinwand, main constituent of natural fats and oils, metabolism, michael phelps, mini pumps, olympic swimmer, plasma, pythons, sudden death in young athletes, tom cech, triglycerides, university of colorado boulder

A surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that huge amounts of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstreams of feeding pythons promote healthy heart growth, results that may have implications for treating human heart disease.

CU-Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand and her research team found the amount of triglycerides — the main constituent of natural fats and oils — in the blood of Burmese pythons one day after eating increased by more than fiftyfold. Despite the massive amount of fatty acids in the python bloodstream there was no evidence of fat deposition in the heart, and the researchers also saw an increase in the activity of a key enzyme known to protect the heart from damage. (more…)

You Are What You Eat: Low-Fat Diet with Fish Oil Slows Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Health, Scienceamericans, antibody, cancer cell growth, cell cycle progression, composition of cell membranes, corn oil, evaluated blood samples, fish oil supplement diet, fish oil supplements, growth of prostate cancer cells, jonsson comprehensive cancer center, ki 67, low fat diet, malignant cell proliferation, omega 6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, progression of prostate cancer, proliferation, prostate, prostate tissue, prostatectomy, protein, rate of prostate cancer cell division, targeted organ, test tube, william aronson

Men who ate a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements for four to six weeks before having their prostate removed had slower cancer-cell growth in their prostate tissue than men who ate a traditional, high-fat Western diet, according to a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The researchers also found a change in the composition of cell membranes in both healthy cells and cancer cells in the prostates of men on the low-fat, fish oil–supplement diet. The membranes had heightened levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study’s first author and a researcher with the Jonsson Cancer Center. (more…)

Preschoolers Understand Threats in Households with Violence

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Healthchildren's comprehension, kathryn howell, mother harmed by violent conflicts, physical or sexual, preschool-aged children, preschoolersers, sandra graham-bermann, sexual violence, university of michigan, violence in the homes

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Preschoolersers are aware and understand threats when they see their mother harmed by violent conflicts at home, a new University of Michigan study finds.

The study explored what factors influence children’s comprehension and response when violence occurs.

Researchers evaluated intimate partner violence—conflicts that can be physical or sexual—in the past year for 116 mother-child groups with known violence in the homes. The children were 4 to 6 years old.

Few studies have looked at children’s observations of violence as young as age 5, and the new U-M findings are one of the first to assess outcomes for kids as young as age 4, said Laura Miller, a psychology graduate student and study’s lead author. (more…)

Religious, Spiritual Support Benefits Men and Women Facing Chronic Illness, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Healthchronic illness, coping strategy, health issues, spiritual coping, spiritual support, spirituality

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Individuals who practice religion and spirituality report better physical and mental health than those who do not. To better understand this relationship and how spirituality/religion can be used for coping with significant health issues, University of Missouri researchers are examining what aspects of religion are most beneficial and for what populations. Now, MU health psychology researchers have found that religious and spiritual support improves health outcomes for both men and women who face chronic health conditions. (more…)

Geoscientists Find Key to Why Some Patients Get Infections from Cardiac Implants

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2011Health, Scienceamericans, antibiotics, atomic force microscopy, bacteria adhere to mineral surfaces, bacterial and human proteins, bacterial cells, biofilm, biofilm formation, biofilm of persistent bacteria, blood infection bacteremia, charles darwin, common human blood protein, contaminated device, deadly blood infection, defibrillators, duke university medical center, enriqueta barrera, eric taylor, fibronectin, fibronectin binding protein a, gene mutations, genetic variants, geobiologists, heart implants, human body, implanted cardiac devices, infections, l barth reller, molecular dynamics simulations, nadia casillas ituarte, national science foundation, ohio state university, pacemakers, patients with implants, prosthetic cardiac valves, proteins of infectious bacteria, ruchirej yongsunthon, single nucleotide polymorphisms, snips, snps, solid substrate, staph bacteria, staphylococcus aureus, steven lower, supaporn lamlertthon, united states, vance fowler

*Bacterial cells have gene mutations that allow them to ‘stick’ to the devices*

New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices.

Geoscientists were the major contributors to the finding.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study results online this week. (more…)

Breast Tenderness Following Combo Hormone Therapy Linked To Increased Breast Density

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2011Health, Sciencebaseline breast density in mammograms, breast cell proliferation, breast tenderness, breast tissue growth, breasts, carolyn crandall, changes in breast density, combination estrogen and progestin therapy, combination therapy, dense breasts, development of breast tenderness, estrogen therapy, hormone therapy, hysterectomy, jonsson cancer center, mammographic density, placebo, post menopausal women, risk of breast cancer, risk of uterine cancer, whi

*Study examines biology underlying link between tenderness, cancer risk*

Post-menopausal women who experience breast tenderness after starting combination hormone therapy have a higher risk of breast cancer than women who don’t, a study by researchers with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has shown. One reason for this, they now say, may be that these women’s breasts are becoming more dense.

Such new-onset tenderness was found to be more pronounced after the start of combination estrogen-and-progestin therapy than with estrogen therapy alone. The link between new-onset tenderness and changes in breast density also was more pronounced in women on combination therapy, said the study’s first author, Dr. Carolyn Crandall, a UCLA professor of general internal medicine and a scientist with the Jonsson Cancer Center. (more…)

Researchers Do Precise Gene Therapy Without A Needle

By Guest PostOctober 21, 2011Health, Scienceandrew morss, anti cancer gene, billionth of a meter, brian henslee, cell, early cancer detection and treatment, electrical pulses, fluorescent molecules, gene therapy, genetic pathways, gold coated dna strands, human cells, l james lee, leukemia cells, lung cancer, nanochannel electroporation, nanometer, nanometer sized channels, needle, nep, ohio state university, polymer stamps, polymeric device, pouyan boukany, reservoir of therapeutic agent, scale channel, therapeutic biomolecules, tumors, wei ching liao

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without a needle.

The technique uses electricity to “shoot” bits of therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second.

L. James Lee and his colleagues at Ohio State University describe the technique in the online edition of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, where they report successfully inserting specific doses of an anti-cancer gene into individual leukemia cells to kill them. (more…)

New Research Links Common RNA Modification to Obesity

By Guest PostOctober 19, 2011Health, Scienceadenosine, anti obesity therapies, biochemical dynamic equilibrium, biological regulation, chemistry professor, Chicago, China, chuan he, deoxyribonucleic acid, dna in human cells, dna or rna methylation, England, epigenetics of dna, fto gene, genetic regulatory process, histones, human energy homeostasis, human rna modification, messenger rna metabolism, methyl group, methylation, n6 methyladenosine, nucleic acids, obesity, proteins, ribonucleic acid, rna epigenetics, rna modification, stephen orahilly, type ii diabetes, university of chicago

An international research team has discovered that a pervasive human RNA modification provides the physiological underpinning of the genetic regulatory process that contributes to obesity and type II diabetes.

European researchers showed in 2007 that the FTO gene was the major gene associated with obesity and type II diabetes, but the details of its physiological and cellular functioning remained unknown. (more…)