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Low Vitamin D Linked to Earlier First Menstruation, a Risk Factor for Health Problems Throughout Life

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2011Healthbehavioral and psychosocial problems in teens, blood vitamin d levels, bogota, breast cancer, cancer, cardiometabolic diseases, Colombia, early menstruation, eduardo villamor, environmental cause, epidemiologist, equator, health problems, limited sun exposure, puberty, risk factor, teen girls, university of michigan, vitamin d in young girls

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A study links low vitamin D in young girls with early menstruation, which is a risk factor for a host of health problems for teen girls as well as women later in life.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health measured the blood vitamin D levels in 242 girls ages 5-12 from Bogota, Colombia, and followed them for 30 months. Girls low on vitamin D were twice as likely to start menstruation during the study than those with sufficient vitamin D, said epidemiologist Eduardo Villamor, associate professor in the U-M SPH. (more…)

Researchers Look for New Ways to Get Teens to Take Their Medicine

By Guest PostAugust 11, 2011Healthbeth foster, canada, chronic conditions, chronic diseases, doses of medicine, health systems, high tech pillbox, kidney transplant, kidney transplant patients, medminder, non adherence, organ rejection in patients, period, teenagers, united states, vikas dharnidharka

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Skipping doses of medicine or taking it at the wrong times can worsen a patient’s condition and lead to costly complications — even organ rejection in patients who have undergone a kidney transplant.

A consortium of researchers in the United States and Canada, including at the University of Florida, has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test techniques that may increase medication adherence in perhaps the most challenging population of patients:teenagers. (more…)

Roadblocking Cancer: How Combo Therapies Can Overcome Drug Resistance in Melanoma

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2011Healthadvanced melanoma, combo therapies, resistant cancer cells, second generation drugs, secondary mutation, side effects

About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. In clinical trials, most of these patients have responded remarkably well to two novel agents that inhibit the gene, but unfortunately, the response is almost always limited in duration, as the cancer develops a resistance to the drugs. (more…)

Even with Regular Exercise, People with Inactive Lifestyles More at Risk for Chronic Diseases, MU Researchers Say

By Guest PostAugust 4, 2011Healthamericans, centers for disease control and prevention, chronic liver condition, diabetes, fatty liver disease, good health, high caloric food, inactive lifestyles, john thyfault, literature, muscle strengthening activity, nafld, new epidemic, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, primary cause of chronic diseases, rate of metabolic dysfunction in americans, researchers, scott rector, type 2 diabetes, university of missouri, weekly exercise

COLUMBIA, Mo. – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 percent of Americans have inactive lifestyles (they take fewer than 5,000 steps a day) and 75 percent do not meet the weekly exercise recommendations (150 minutes of moderate activity each week and muscle-strengthening activity twice a week) to maintain good health. After reviewing recent literature, University of Missouri researchers contend that physical inactivity is the primary cause of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease and that even people who set aside time for exercise regularly but are otherwise sedentary, may not be active enough to combat these diseases. Inactivity, in addition to the availability of high-caloric food has led to an increased rate of metabolic dysfunction in Americans. (more…)

Using Text Messaging, Yale Student Hopes to Fight Malaria in The Philippines

By Guest PostAugust 2, 2011Healthfight malaria, malaria in philippines, malaria initiative, malaria prevention efforts, philippine hospital, text messaging, vector borne disease

In Regina de Luna’s home country of the Philippines, malaria is the eighth leading cause of death, a statistic that the rising Yale senior finds impossible to ignore. (more…)

Unexpected Discovery on Hormone Secretion

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2011Healthhormone producing organs, hormone secretion, pituitary cells, pituitary gland

A team of geneticists at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), directed by Dr. Jacques Drouin, made an unexpected discovery on hormone secretion. Contrary to common belief, the researchers found that pituitary cells are organized in structured networks. The scientific breakthrough was published yesterday by the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Dr. Drouin is a full professor in the Department of Biochemistry (accreditation in molecular biology) at the Université de Montréal. (more…)

MU Study Pairs Military Veterans and Shelter Dogs to Ease Transition Home for Veterans; Train Shelter Dogs To Be More Adoptable

By Guest PostJuly 29, 2011Healtha better world for pets, banfield charitable trust, combat related issues, eunice shriver kennedy, joe simpson, mars petcare, pedigree foundation, post traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, ptsd service dogs, rebecca johnson, springfield, the waltham foundation, tiddly, united states service members, university of missouri, veterans, wars in iraq and afghanistan

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Of the 2 million United States Service members that have been in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s estimated that up to 50 percent experience combat-related issues ranging from substance abuse to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Now, a University of Missouri professor is conducting a unique study that will give military veterans a “training buddy” to help them cope while helping shelter dogs become more adoptable. The Central Missouri Humane Society is supplying the dogs involved in the study.

The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine’s Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) has been supported and funded through a series of grants from Mars Petcare (the WALTHAM Foundation, PEDIGREE Foundation and Banfield Charitable Trust) and the MU Research Board, to conduct a study of the mutual benefit of veterans training shelter dogs. Researchers hope this partnership between man and animal will make the dogs better family members and assist the veterans’ adjustment after returning home. (more…)

Two Genetic Variations Predict Second Cancers after Radiation Treatment for Children with Hodgkin’s

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2011Health, Scienceandrew skol, apoptosis, cancer types, cells, differentiation, fundamental cellular processes, gene, genetic variations, hodgkins lymphoma, hodgkins survivors, kenan onel, nature medicine, prdm1, prmd1 gene, proliferation, radiation and chemotherapy, radiation induced second cancers, radiation therapy, sarah jackson, single nucleotide polymorphisms, timothy best, treatable cancers

A genome-wide association study published in the August issue of Nature Medicine has found two tiny genetic variations that can predict which patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma are most likely to develop radiation-induced second cancers years after treatment. Knowing in advance who is at risk could help physicians tailor treatment to reduce the risks for patients who are most susceptible to long-term damage.

Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most treatable cancers, with more than 90 percent of patients surviving after a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. But nearly 20 percent of patients treated as children develop a second cancer within 30 years. The younger the patients are when treated and the higher the radiation dose, the greater the risk. This late side effect of treatment is the second leading cause of death for long-term Hodgkin’s survivors. (more…)

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