High consumption of red and processed meat over a long period of time is associated with an increased risk for a certain type of colon cancer, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA.
Meat consumption has been associated with colorectal cancer in previous studies, but the strength of the association and types of meat involved have not been consistent, according to background information in the article. Few studies have evaluated long-term meat consumption or the relat
New research involving more than one million people indicates that having high fasting serum glucose levels and diabetes are risk factors for several major cancers, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA.
Diabetes mellitus is a serious and costly disease that is becoming increasingly common in many countries, including Korea, the site of this study, according to background information in the article. Recent data show that approximately 150 million people have diabetes
The likelihood of a large number of future cases of vCJD remains small claim researchers from Imperial College London.
According to research published today in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the team believe there will be around 70 future cases of vCJD arising from the consumption of BSE-infected beef. At most this could rise to a total of around 600 deaths, although the researchers feel this is unlikely.
This work follows on from a study in 2003 at Derriford Ho
Mayo Clinic Proceedings study finds small tumors detectable with gamma camera
Using a new specially designed gamma camera for breast imaging, Mayo Clinic researchers report in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings their success with a system they call molecular breast imaging. “By optimizing the camera to detect smaller breast lesions, this technique should aid in the detection of early-stage breast cancer, something that was not possible with conventional gamma cameras,”
A new report by the National Academies’ National Research Council on the health effects of perchlorate, a chemical that in high doses can decrease thyroid function in humans and that is present in many public drinking-water supplies, says daily ingestion of up to 0.0007 milligrams per kilogram of body weight can occur without adversely affecting the health of even the most sensitive populations. That amount is more than 20 times the “reference dose” proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protect
A little anxiety can be a good thing when it comes to cancer symptoms according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They report that people with low overall anxiety levels were more apt to ignore symptoms of rectal cancer for long periods of time, thereby delaying treatment. In contrast, people with at least moderate levels of anxiety tended to quickly recognize symptoms such as rectal bleeding as a sign of serious illness.
“Almost everyone has
American preschoolers get about 14 to 17 teaspoons of added sugar a day, on average, mostly from fruit-flavored drinks, high-fat desserts and cola-type soft drinks which displace the grain, vegetable, fruit and dairy food groups and lower the quality of their diet, a Penn State study has shown.
Dr. Sibylle Kranz, assistant professor of nutritional sciences who led the study, says, “In contrast to other researchers, we found that although the most dramatic decrease in vitamin and
A comprehensive response to HIV could prevent 10 million AIDS deaths in Africa by 2020
One of the most urgent problems in HIV/AIDS policy is in deciding how best to allocate resources toward preventing new infections or treating infected individuals.
An analysis by Joshua Salomon and colleagues in the premier open-access journal PLoS Medicine, published online January 11, 2005, suggests that an exclusive focus on one or the other of these alternatives will yield minima
Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have uncovered an important clue to understanding the origins of the AIDS epidemic. The work suggests that harnessing natural mechanisms of resistance to HIV infection might provide new methods for combating AIDS.
The research team at the MRC’s National Institute for Medical Research pinpointed crucial differences in a gene found in rhesus monkeys that can prevent HIV infection, and its human counterpart, that cannot.
The differe
An enduring mystery for allergy researchers has been the unpredictable distribution of allergens in plants. For example, being allergic to birch pollen can predispose a person to allergy from distantly related plant foods such as celery, apple or soy.
Most allergens are proteins. Research published on Tuesday identifies 129 plant allergens in just four main protein families. “Knowing what makes a protein more likely to become an allergen could make it easier for manufacturers to
Patient education on aerosol therapy key to effective asthma control
New evidence-based guidelines for the selection of aerosol medication devices conclude that health-care providers should avoid basing device selection exclusively on device efficacy. Instead, the choice should be based on other patient-related factors. All aerosolized medication delivery systems are equally effective when used properly. Aerosolized medication is typically used to treat patients with respiratory
Corticosteroids can be beneficial in the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and can be offered as a treatment option, according to the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society in a new practice guideline published in the January 11 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder linked to the X-chromosome. It is the most common form of muscular dystrophy in children a
Dementia-associated weight loss begins before the onset of the definite dementia symptoms and accelerates by the time of the diagnosis, according to a study in the January issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Weight loss in old age is common and may be related to various diseases, according to background information in the article. “It has long been observed that weight loss is common in Alzheimer disease (AD), but this has been documented in people
Many interventional cardiologists opt out of treating patients if chance of death is high
Nearly 80 percent of interventional cardiologists in New York State admit they have avoided performing a risky but potentially life-saving angioplasty on a patient, out of fear that if the patient dies it skews the doctor’s personal mortality “report card,” according to a University of Rochester survey.
The anonymous poll was designed to measure whether the state Department of
Lack of sleep could make you fat. In an editorial published in the Jan. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, two Northwestern University researchers stress the need to better understand the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States by studying how loss of sleep alters the complex metabolic pathways that control appetite, food intake and energy expenditure.
Commenting on two obesity studies also published this week in the journal, Joseph Bass, M.D., assistant professor of m
Treatment for spinal cord injury leading to paralysis continues to stymie physicians but a clinical trial at the Indiana University School of Medicine reported in the January issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery – Spine may point researchers in a positive direction.
Ten patients with complete motor and sensory spinal cord injury were implanted with an experimental device designed to regenerate nerve fibers, promoting some degree of functional recovery. The device, an oscillating
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