Results advance quest for viral-based therapies for cancer

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center continue to make strides in their work to develop the next generation of effective viral-based therapies for cancer. Two papers about promising research with genetically engineered viruses studied in mice, published today in the journals Cancer Research and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), bring us significantly closer to this objective and the s

A drug used for the treatment of sickle cell anemia in adults has now been shown to cause significant improvements in very young children with the disorder. The finding is an important one as these young patients are especially vulnerable to serious organ failure and even death at an early age. The study results will be published in the October 1, 2005, issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic blood disorder that

Visually Provoked Seizures a National Health Problem

The Epilepsy Foundation today issued new recommendations for families on how to limit the risk of seizures triggered by flashing images and certain patterns on television, videogames, computers and other video screens. The recommendations are based upon guidelines in the UK and Japan and are the first published in the US to be based on an expert review of research on photosensitivity (the susceptibility to visual stimulation). Th

New cocoa-based snacks first to deliver real heart-health benefits, premium chocolate taste

With heart disease remaining the nation’s number one killer, Americans increasingly are looking for options to improve their heart health. Now there’s a new product hitting store shelves that will allow them to satisfy their passion for chocolate while being good to their heart.

CocoaViaTM is a revolutionary new line of heart-healthy snacks that combines real chocolate pleasure wit

Digital mammography that uses computers to detect breast cancer found significantly (up to 28%) more cancers than screen film mammography in women 50 and younger, premenopausal and perimenopausal women, and women with dense breasts, according to results from one of the largest breast cancer screening studies ever performed.

However, the study showed no difference between digital and standard x-ray mammography in detecting breast cancer for the general population of women. More tha

A fender-bender may have saved Douglas Collins’ life. A CT scan following the accident discovered Collins, 64, had a brain aneurysm, a weakness in the arterial wall that if ruptured could cause a stroke or death. It was not caused by the accident, but likely could have been a ticking time bomb present for years. The aneurysm was large and previously thought to require open surgery and a lengthy recovery.

A second opinion brought Collins to Rush University Medical Center and Chic

Univ. of Southern CA investigators show proximity to freeways poses respiratory risk

Living near a freeway may mean more than the annoying rumble of cars and trucks: For children, it brings an increased risk of asthma, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Scientists studying air pollution levels in 10 Southern California cities found that the closer children live to a freeway, the greater their chance of having

Univ. of Southern CA-led study shows significant death risk linked to airborne particles

Experts may be significantly underestimating air pollution’s role in causing early death, according to a team of American and Canadian researchers, who studied two decades’ worth of data on residents of the Los Angeles metro area.

When the epidemiologists examined links between particle pollution and mortality within more than 260 Los Angeles neighborhoods, they found

Compounds called defensins–known to prevent viruses from entering cells–appear to do so by preventing the virus from merging to cells’ outer membrane, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, both of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of California at Los Angeles.

The study, appearing in the September 11 Nature Immunology, also received funding

Researchers find human fat cells produce C-reactive protein

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have found that human fat cells produce a protein that is linked to both inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
They say the discovery, reported in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, goes a long way to explain why people who are overweight generally have

A team led by UCSD biochemists has discovered the mechanism by which a simple organism can produce 10 trillion varieties of a single protein, a finding that provides a new tool to develop novel drugs.

In the September 18 advance on-line publication of the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the researchers describe the mechanism by which a virus that infects bacteria—called a bacteriophage, or phage—can generate a kaleidoscope of variants of a particular protein.

Mayo Clinic research team has devised a new virus-based gene therapy delivery system to help fight cancer. Researchers say their findings will help overcome hurdles that have hindered gene therapy cancer treatments.

The Mayo research team, which includes a collaborator from the United Kingdom, describes its new approach in the current edition of Nature Medicine.

The approach relies on “therapeutic hitchhikers” — particles derived from retroviruses (RNA-containing viru

Research could improve clinical care, help educate women

A March of Dimes expert panel has recommended a targeted research agenda designed improve the lives of thousands of babies by preventing premature birth. The agenda has been published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“Preterm birth is a complex disorder, like heart disease or diabetes, with no single cause, and it requires a multi-faceted approach,” says Nancy S. Green, M.D., medical

Those who diagnose obesity talk about diet and exercise

Many physicians may be missing the chance to talk to obese children and their parents about ways to control the children’s weight, according to Saint Louis University research reported in Pediatrics.

“It’s really important that pediatricians identify overweight children during well-child visits and use that time to talk about healthy weight,” says Sarah Barlow, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics

To give voice to people whose lives have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing floods, The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a unique survey of evacuees in shelters in the Houston area. One-third (34%) of Katrina evacuees report that they were trapped in their homes and had to be rescued. Half (50%) of those who were trapped said they waited three or more days to be rescued.

More than 1 in 10 (14%) Hur

People who exercise regularly experience 25% less muscle and joint pain in their old age than people who are less active. Research published in Arthritis Research & Therapy reveals that people who regularly participate in brisk aerobic exercise, such as running, experience less pain than non-runners even though they are more likely to suffer from pain from injuries.

Bonnie Bruce and colleagues from Stanford University, USA, compared the level of pain in a group of runners and a