New findings from the Lung Health Study (LHS) show that intensive smoking cessation programs can significantly improve long-term survival among smokers. Supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), LHS is a landmark study that differs from many other studies of cigarette smoking in that it was a randomized, controlled clinical trial — considered the gold standard in determining cause and effect; furthermore, the size and duration of LHS enabled it to more accurately mea

What is the connection between a fly’s aerodynamic skill and human heart function? Using the nation’s most brilliant X-rays, located at the Advanced Photon Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, a cardiac molecular motors expert from the University of Vermont (UVM) and colleagues from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and Caltech performed research to answer that and other questions.

The research team, including David Maughan, Ph.D., res

The mechanisms that govern the relation between personal mobility and transmission of the AIDS virus (HIV) are still poorly known. Surveys conducted in the River Senegal Valley by two demographers from the IRD and the University of Montreal suggest that the way individuals returning to their community of origin deal with sexual risks depends on the migratory paths (internal or international migrations) and the social pressures prevailing in that community. Such influences cause most migrants to

A possible diagnostic use for clot-dissolving drugs such as tPA has been found by Medical College of Georgia researchers working to improve a test that identifies potentially deadly blood clots in the legs.

“This study is a fairly simple concept,” says Dr. Vincent J.B. Robinson, nuclear cardiologist at MCG and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta and lead author of a study in the February issue of CHEST detailing how clot-busting drugs such as tPA, already used to tr

Older patients can take heart in new transplantation study

Policy makers who use age as a discriminating factor in determining eligibility for heart transplant surgery may want to reconsider their rules in the light of new research at the University of Alberta. Published in the Journal of Cardiac Surgery, the study shows that older heart transplant recipients fare just as well as their younger counterparts, even many years after surgery.

The study involved all 275 adu

3-D ultrasound reveals effects of tongue surgery on speech

New imaging research about tongue shape and volume before and after surgery should ultimately help surgeons decide how to best reconstruct tongue defects resulting from cancer surgery, says a team of researchers at the University of Toronto.

Tim Bressmann, a professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, and his colleague Jonathan Irish, a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and a head an

Risk of damage from loud music

A new U of T study recommends the provision of ear plugs, education at concert entrances and the reduction of music sound levels to minimize the risk of hearing loss for rock concert attendees.

The conclusions are part of a study published in the January/February issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health, which looked at whether concert goers perceive there is a risk of hearing damage from the loud music at concerts and whether they use

The first ‘next generation’ MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) body scanner in the world will be officially launched at Hope Hospital later this week (Friday 18th February).

The Achieva 3T MR Scanner has been purchased by The University of Manchester and will be used by researchers to further their studies in a wide range of medical areas.

The state-of-the-art technology involved will revolutionise the way scanning takes place and means that higher quality scans can be carr

Developing compounds to block activation pathway

Researchers from Tufts-New England Medical Center have identified a long-sought-after enzyme that interacts with a specific protease-activated receptor, PAR1, on breast cancer cells. The study authors identified metalloprotease-1 as the molecular scissors that activates PAR1 resulting in cancer cell invasion and tumor growth. They were able to block the spread of the breast cancer in animals using novel compounds called pepducin

A compound may improve the chances that stem cells transplanted from a patient’s bone marrow will help take over brain functions

A compound similar to the components of DNA may improve the chances that stem cells transplanted from a patient’s bone marrow to the brain will take over the functions of damaged cells and help treat Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological illnesses.
A research team led by University of Central Florida professor Kiminobu Sugaya found tha

Boosting these cellular signals may lead to new treatments

Using a revolutionary technique to turn off chemical signals inside the cell, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that the different metabolic abnormalities present in type 2 diabetes can be caused by knocking out two key signals in liver cells. Their findings in mice may someday lead to strategies in humans to boost these two different signals, providing a powerful new way to treat the different meta

The Lychnis moth (Hadena bicruris) is laying more eggs on white campion (Silene latifolia), due to the increasing fragmentation of the countryside. Dutch researcher Jelmer Elzinga studied how many white campion seeds were eaten by Lychnis moth caterpillars at various locations along the River Waal.

Elzinga discovered that at small and isolated locations, Lychnis moth caterpillars consumed more white campion seeds. This increased consumption was thought to be due to a decrease i

Bei rund 20 Millionen Menschen in der Bundesrepublik, etwa einem Viertel der Bevölkerung, tickt eine Zeitbombe. Sie haben das, was Ärzte seit einigen Jahren als Stoffwechsel- bzw. metabolisches Syndrom bezeichnen. In den USA sind schätzungsweise 47 Millionen Menschen davon betroffen. Die Patienten haben eine Reihe verschiedener Erkrankungen, die sich gegenseitig hochschaukeln. Dazu zählen vor allem starkes Übergewicht (Adipositas), Bluthochdruck, Typ-2 Diabetes und Fettstoffwechselstörungen.

Treatments for mood and anxiety disorders are thought to work, in part, by helping patients control the stresses in their lives. A new study in rats by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grantees provides insight into the brain mechanisms likely involved. When it deems a stressor controllable, an executive hub in the front of the brain quells an alarm center deep in the brainstem, preventing the adverse behavioral and physiological effects of uncontrollable stress.

“It’s a

New research is shedding light on why estrogenic hormones produce unintended results in women, giving hope to the idea that new drugs might reach their targets and work more effectively. Ultimately it could mean that postmenopausal women would know that hormone-replacement therapy would have only its intended result.

“It’s very difficult right now for women to make a choice about taking estrogen or other estrogen-like compounds, and, I think, it’s equally difficult for

Firefly protein illuminates virus’ hunt of metastasized melanoma cells in live mouse

Camouflaging an impotent AIDS virus in new clothes enables it to hunt down metastasized melanoma cells in living mice, reports a UCLA AIDS Institute study in the Feb. 13 online edition of Nature Medicine. The scientists added the protein that makes fireflies glow to the virus in order to track its journey from the bloodstream to new tumors in the animals’ lungs. “For the past 20 years, g