Medicine

Study findings first presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrate the efficacy of canakinumab at tapering corticosteroid (CS) use in patients with SJIA. Successful CS tapering was achieved within 20 weeks in almost half of patients (44.5%, p JIA is a chronic arthritis occurring in 1 in every 1,000 children; SJIA is a subset occurring in 10%-20% of cases, involving the body as a whole and impacting small joints such as hands, wrists, knees and ankles...

Epidemiological data presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrate that pregnancy carried to childbirth (parity) increases the risk of ACPA-negative* rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The increased risk was demonstrated in women aged 18-44 who have had a child (2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2), but not in older women, and was more pronounced among those women with delivery during the first year of symptoms. RA is an autoimmune disease characterised by inflammation of the joints and tendons...

Frontiers in Microbiology Insights into fungal communities in composts revealed by 454-pyrosequencing: Implications for human health and safety Composting is a process for converting waste into materials beneficial for plant growth through the action of microbes, especially of fungi which can break down large molecules. But fungi involved in composting are not always harmless. Vidya De Gannes and colleagues show that composts can contain more fungi that are potentially harmful to humans than was previously realized...

In a surprising new finding, a Northwestern Medicine® study has found a common molecular vulnerability in autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Both disorders have symptoms of social impairment and originate during brain development in utero. This the first research to explore a common mechanism for these disorders and link their molecular vulnerabilities. The study found male offspring of rat mothers who were given alcohol during pregnancy have social impairment and altered levels of autism-related genes found in humans. Female offspring were not affected...

As anyone who's ever mixed up the sugar and salt while baking knows, too much of a good thing can be inedible. What hasn't been clear, though, is how our tongues and brains can tell when the saltiness of our food has crossed the line from yummy to yucky - or, worse, something dangerous...

Newly discovered genetic variations may help predict breast cancer risk in women who receive preventive breast cancer therapy with the selective estrogen receptor modulator drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene, a Mayo Clinic-led study has found. The study is published in the journal Cancer Discovery. "Our findings are important because we identified genetic factors that could eventually be used to select women who should be offered the drugs for prevention," said James Ingle, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic. Dr...

By transferring four genes into mouse fibroblast cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have produced cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells, which produce millions of new blood cells in the human body every day. These findings provide a platform for future development of patient-specific stem/progenitor cells, and more differentiated blood products, for cell-replacement therapy. The study, titled, "Induction of a Hemogenic Program in Mouse Fibroblasts," was published online in CELL STEM CELL...

The propensity of proteins to stick together in large clumps - termed "protein aggregation" - is the culprit behind a variety of conditions including Huntington's, Alzheimer's, and mad cow diseases. With this notoriety, protein aggregation is considered to be a bad accident of nature that happens when protein structure is mismanaged. But new research published online in the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell shows that, when kept in balance, protein aggregation has beneficial functions that allow cells to organize themselves in both time and space...

An early age at first drink (AFD) is associated with a greater risk for subsequent alcohol use disorders (AUDs). While African Americans (AAs) generally report an older AFD and fewer alcohol-related problems than European Americans (EAs), few studies have explored the association between AFD and problem drinking across ethnicity...

Alveolar macrophage (AM) function plays a critical role in protecting the lungs from particulate matter inhalation by removing particulates from the airway and secreting elements that facilitate airway repair. Chronic drinking causes persistent oxidative stress in the lungs, leading to impaired AM function as well as immune responses. A rodent study has found that chronic drinking, when coupled with particulate matter (PM) exposure, dramatically increases lung dysfunction compared to alcohol intake or PM exposure alone...

Finasteride is a synthetic drug for the treatment of male pattern hair loss (MPHL) and an enlarged prostate. The side effects of finasteride for treatment of these two conditions can include increased rates of sexual dysfunction, such as low libido and erectile dysfunction; in fact, some men who have discontinued the medication continue to experience persistent sexual side effects...

Carbon nanotubes and graphene can cause lung inflammation in rats in an experimental setting, but carbon black and graphite nanoplatelets do not, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology. Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and graphite nanoplatelets are strong, and conduct electricity, meaning that they have been incorporated in to everyday industrial applications, such as microelectronics and lightweight materials. Another carbon-based nanomaterial, carbon black, has been used for decades in car tyres to improve grip and stability...

The serious shortage of primary care doctors in America will get much worse unless the country reforms its graduate medical education system, researchers from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) reported in Academic Medicine. Less than 25% of newly qualified doctors go into primary care, and just 4.8% move into rural areas, the authors added. This serious problem will only get worse unless some fundamental changes are introduced...

The cases of confirmed and probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are not because of food consumption, Dr. Paul Van Buynder, Chief Medical Health Officer, Fraser Health, British Columbia, Canada announced in a public statement. Dr. Buynder expressed concern that social media, the press and TV are reporting the small number of possible CJD cases being investigated as being connected to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as "mad cow disease". Fraser Health has looked into six possible cases of CJD over the last twelve months...

Bazedoxifene, an osteoporosis medication which is approved in Europe, stops the growth of breast cancer cells, including those that are resistant to current medications, researchers from the Duke Cancer Institute reported at ENDO 2013 - The Endocrine Society's Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, June 15th, 2013. The team explained that bazedoxifene not only blocks estrogen so that it cannot fuel breast cancer cell growth, but it also makes sure the estrogen receptor is killed off - it flags the estrogen receptor for destruction...

New research has identified some key differences between the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and SARS. The findings, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, detail the viral load profile of MERS-CoV , giving a complete explanation of how it circulates though the body. MERS-CoV has a 60% death rate. However, according to researchers, there is no evidence of widespread human-to-human MERS-CoV transmission. Difference between MERS-CoV and SARS The report details the case of a 73 year old man from Abu Dhabi who died from MERS-CoV infection...

Renaming "Schizophrenia" is the subject of discussion in a new Forum in the journal Psychological Medicine. Two authors propose a new name "Psychosis Susceptibility Syndrome" and experts comment. The authors of the article, Aadt Klijn and Bill George, from the Dutch Association of and for People with a Psychotic Vulnerability (Anoiksis), reflect what several commentators have been saying for a long time...

Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have developed a revolutionary method to quickly cut through noise and generate a unified and simplified analysis of high-throughput biological data from, for example, patient samples. The technique, known as a pre-whitening matched filter, is well known in electrical engineering and widely used in cell phones and radar...

Eli Lilly's Phase II study for an investigational drug for Alzheimer's disease has been terminated due to abnormal liver biochemical tests. The company says that clinical study investigators have been informed. The compound in question, a beta secretase (BACE) inhibitor called LY2886721, was being tested as a once-daily therapy to slow down Alzheimer's disease progression. Jan M. Lundberg, Ph.D...

South Asian women in Britain have an 8% higher risk of developing breast cancer than British white women, compared to a 45% lower risk ten years ago, researchers from the University of Sheffield reported at the National Cancer Intelligence Network Conference in Brighton on Friday, June 14th. Study leader, Dr. Matthew Day and team are not sure why breast cancer incidence has increased so rapidly among British South Asian females...