OHSU study suggests that HRT may act on cancer cells to produce less aggressive tumors
A study of nearly 300 breast cancer patients at Oregon Health & Science University found that women who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have less aggressive tumors and are more likely to be diagnosed through mammograms than other methods. Also, HRT users with breast cancer had significantly better survival rates than non-HRT users. The study is published in the September issue of the journal T
Web sites selling the prescription-only medication ciprofloxacin (also known by its brand name Cipro®) sprang up quickly following an anthrax outbreak in October 2001, according to a new study by researchers from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine. The study, published today in the American Journal of Medicine, also found that these Web sites provided poor quality information, had inadequate consumer safeguards, and charged high prices.
On Oct. 4, 2001, the U.S. C
Results of a new programme for treating young children with autism have shown that even the most disabled made outstanding progress. Ninety-four percent of those completing the programme so far are now able to attend a mainstream school.
The South West Autism Project (SWAP), directed by Professor Alec Webster of Bristol University and funded by Bristol City Council, was started in September 2000, following a marked rise in the number of children in Bristol being diagnosed with autism. Data f
A review in this week’s issue of THE LANCET assesses the research which has investigated possible links between diet and cancer. A familiar conclusion is reached-cancer risk can be reduced by eating a balanced diet (including the regular consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables), combined with regular exercise and a restriction on alcohol intake.
Diet-related factors are thought to be second only to tobacco in accounting for cancer-accounting for about 30% of cancers in developed countries
Early findings from a randomised trial investigating the effectiveness of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer are reported in this week’s issue of THE LANCET. Although tamoxifen reduced breast cancer incidence by a third compared with women given placebo, the authors of the study caution that it is still too early to fully assess the risk to benefit ratio of tamoxifen as a preventative strategy for breast cancer.
Tamoxifen is well known in its effect to decrease recurrence of (and death from
Although you can never be certain of predicting future developments in science, there is a good chance of a fundamental breakthrough in physics soon. With a series of unique experiments and missions designed to test our understanding of gravity, the European Space Agency (ESA) hopes to get to the very bottom of it.
Scientists will study space phenomena that do not seem to conform to our perceived understanding of gravity. In this way, they hope to develop a greater comprehension of the Univ
Working with guinea pigs, Johns Hopkins scientists have created what is believed to be the first biologic pacemaker for the heart, paving the way for a genetically engineered alternative to implanted electronic pacemakers. The advance, reported in the Sept. 12 issue of Nature, uses gene therapy to convert a small fraction of guinea pigs’ heart muscle cells into specialized “pacing” cells.
“We now can envision a day when it will be possible to recreate an individual’s pacemaker cel
In the quest to repair damaged DNA – a process believed crucial in combating ailments ranging from cancer to aging – antioxidant has been the Holy Grail. But findings published this week in Nature suggest oxidation isn’t always the enemy.
Scientists at Michigan State University, along with colleagues in England, have uncloaked a mechanism that uses oxygen to repair DNA – until now an unlikely part of the restorative recipe. Their work is published in the Sept. 12 issue of the British sc
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART, is the standard of care for HIV/AIDS patients and has prolonged the lives of countless persons with the disease. HAART has been associated, however, with the emergence of lipodystrophy syndromes. In this month’s issue of the journal Mitochondrion*, researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., report that protease inhibitors, a component
Scientists from Imperial College London and King’s College London have identified a molecule that helps to wire up the neural circuitry responsible for controlling the movement of muscle.
Writing today in the journal Neuron, the researchers describe how the signalling protein named WNT-3 directs specific neurons during embryonic development to make the correct connections in the spine to form a neural pathway that controls muscle.
Using mice, which offer the closest model to human
Entomologists have discovered that there are far more insects flying around above our heads than previously thought. Speaking at the Royal Entomological Society’s national meeting Entomology 2002, which will take place at Cardiff University on 12–13 September 2002, Dr Jason Chapman will say that in a typical summer month, around 3.5 billion insects fly over a square kilometre. This equates to one tonne of insects flying over Hyde Park in London, or Trelai Park in Cardiff, every four weeks in summer.
Entomologists in Belfast may finally have found a way of limiting the spread of the New Zealand flatworm, which invaded the British Isles in the 1960s. Speaking at the Royal Entomological Society’s national meeting Entomology 2002, which will take place at Cardiff University on 12–13 September 2002, Dr Archie Murchie of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Northern Ireland) will announce that certain British beetles could help repel the invader by preying on it. Finding a natural pred
Animals kept in captivity exhibit stereotypic behaviour that is fundamentally similar to that seen in human conditions of autism and schizophrenia; a finding that could confound some behavioural experiments using animals, according to Dr Georgia Mason from University of Oxford speaking at the BA Festival of Science [10.50hrs 11 September 2002].
Animals in zoos, farms and laboratories are often seen gnawing repetitively, pacing back and forward or carrying out other apparently functionless be
DNA has an oscillating double-helix structure. This oscillating means that the DNA molecules conduct electricity much less well than was previously thought. Ultrafast cameras were one of the devices the researchers from Amsterdam used to demonstrate this.
It turns out the DNA does not have a rigid regular structure as stated in textbooks. In reality the double helix of DNA forms a very dynamic chaotic system. The rigid structure in textbooks should be regarded as the average position of many
In a Technology Foundation STW project, Coen van Gulijk has developed a new concept for a robust soot filter for diesel engines. As well as filter stages, the filter has an open canal so as to exclude the danger of blockage and thus fire.
The new soot filter consists of series of perforated ceramic foams. The surface of the ceramic is impregnated with a catalyst on which the incoming soot particles are burnt and released as gases. Ash particles from impurities in the diesel, which enter the filte
Patients who have recently undergone an operation experience less breathing problems after being given a cocktail of vitamins C and E. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center following experiments with patients and healthy volunteers.
During the first two to three days after a major abdominal operation, most patients have frequent episodes of airway obstruction and hypoxaemia. This can lead to an increase in the heart rate and blood pressure, w
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