Swedish meta-analysis of 47 scientific studies finds clear patterns across thousands of people who went on to be diagnosed with the disease

By combing through dozens of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) studies, psychologists have gained a clear picture of cognitive problems in people who will develop the degenerative brain disease. The meta-analysis reveals that people can show early warning signs across several cognitive domains years before they are officially diagnosed, confirmi

In a groundbreaking population-based study, researchers in Mayo Clinic Cancer Center found that new onset of hyperglycemic diabetes in adults age 50 or older may be a signal of underlying pancreatic cancer. The risk of developing the cancer within three years after a new diagnosis of diabetes is eight times higher than for the average same-age individual. The findings will be published in the Aug. 1 issue of Gastroenterology.

“Pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect until it is in an adva

The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) is encouraged to see that all of its member companies have scored well, if not better than last year, in the Environment Agency’s “Spotlight” report on Business’ Environmental Performance, published today.

Using the environmental protection (OPRA) methodology the Environment Agency assessed how well industry manages its regulated sites in terms of waste production, releases to air and discharges to water. In 2004, the chemical industry pro

Points way to development of more efficient treatment

The mechanism in anti-Alzheimer’s disease drugs that inhibits the production of a destructive, inflammation-causing protein in the brain has been revealed by researchers at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem.

Their work, described in a recent issue of the American journal, Annals of Neurology, is likely to lead to the development of more efficient drugs than are currently in use for treating Alzheimer’s D

The human opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has broken the immune system’s code, report researchers from the University of Chicago, enabling the bacteria to recognize when its host is most vulnerable and to launch an attack before the weakened host can muster its defenses.

In the 29 July 2005 issue of Science, the researchers show how this lethal organism detects interferon-gamma, a chemical messenger the immune system uses to coordinate its efforts to get rid

Heme is key to protein’s work

University of Toronto researchers have gained new insight into how a specific protein may control circadian rhythms and metabolic processes, which has implications for treating cholesterol-related diseases.

U of T professor Henry Krause and his colleagues have identified heme, an iron compound, best known for its oxygen carrying capabilities in hemoglobin, as the molecule that allows the protein E75 to regulate a number of key developm

Molecular ’handshake’ of key parasite protein seen as target for drug design and vaccine development

By determining the molecular structure of a protein that enables malaria parasites to invade red blood cells, researchers have uncovered valuable clues for rational antimalarial drug design and vaccine development. The findings are reported in the July 29 issue of the journal Cell.

Malaria causes approximately 400 million clinical cases and 2 million deaths annually

In the courtship dance of a male South American bird, the Club-winged Manakin, Machaeropterus deliciosus, rubbing and vibrating specialized wing feathers together creates a courting melody to attract their mates, according to a report in Science.

Since Darwin proposed his theories of selection and evolution, it has been posed that sounds made by the feathers of some birds evolved by sexual selection. Richard O. Prum, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ecology and Evolutiona

Pore protein plays active role in toxins’ entry into cells

Scientists at Harvard Medical School (HMS) have revealed details of a key step in the entry of anthrax toxin into human cells. The work, which grew out of an ongoing effort to produce a better anthrax therapeutic, shows that the protective antigen component of the bacterial toxin plays an active role in transferring the other two components of the toxin through the cell membrane. The research, led by R. John Collier

Finding advances hope for potential new target for antidepressants

Researchers from Harvard Medical School have found a molecule that is unexpectedly involved in dopamine signaling, and in a manner that supports the potential of dopamine as an alternative target for treating depression. The results provide evidence that there is a molecular link between impaired dopamine signaling and depression, which affects 16 percent of the adult population in the United States. The research

Random fluctuations in gene expression can influence the fates of cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) far more than previously thought, according to new research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. By combining experimental and computational studies of HIV’s replication cycle, the researchers found evidence that the virus may become latent in some cells by harnessing the random molecular behavior of the cell.

Discovery sheds light on how a low-calorie diet extends lifespan

Mice, rats, worms, flies, and yeast all live longer on a low-calorie diet, which also seems to protect mammals against cancer and other aging-related diseases. A gene called SIR2 is thought to control this process. Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School and UC Davis have discovered four cousins of the SIR2 gene that also extend lifespan, suggesting that the whole family of SIR2 genes is involved in controlling life

Studies shed light on role of melanin in preventing macular degeneration

Two studies from an unusual research partnership at the University of Chicago appear to have resolved a long-standing dispute about the role of melanin in the eye. The studies, one published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and one early online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), also suggest a new way to prevent a common cause of blindness.

Chemist

Maintaining lifestyle top of men’s list when choosing a prostate cancer therapy

Despite wanting to avoid undesirable side effects, nearly half of men with prostate cancer do not have enough information on the lifestyle impact of treatments

Nearly nine out of 10 healthy men say maintaining their lifestyle is the main priority if they had to receive a hormonal treatment for locally advanced prostate cancer, according to a new study.1 In reality, nearly half of men feel th

Findings call for radical change in treatment for the disease, researchers say

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the cause of chronic sinus infections lies in the nasal mucus — the snot — not in the nasal and sinus tissue targeted by standard treatment. The findings will be published in the August issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and are available online at www.us.elsevierhealth.com/jaci .

Possible ’early warning system’ for heart problems

By using sound waves Mayo Clinic researchers have described subtle changes in the motion of the heart that are measurable by ultrasound and may improve understanding of heart function, and possibly be a noninvasive aid in predicting impending heart damage including heart attacks. The study could also contribute to optimal adjustment of cardiac pacemakers or perhaps better design of artificial hearts. The findings, publish