Health News - Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Canadian researchers have found a key protein in connection with metastatic breast and ovarian cancers, raising the hope for "smart" therapies for these diseases. A protein called podocalyxin, which hides on the surface of tumor cells, may be an accurate predictor of metastatic cancer, the kind of invasive cancer which spreads from its original site to other parts of the body, researchers from University of British Columbia (UBC) said.
"The nice thing about it is, since it's on the surface of cells, it actually is something that we can target antibodies to, or find a way to prevent its action," said Dr. Kelly McNagny, a stem cell expert with the UBC Biomedical Research Center. McNagny said the finding is a "small but important step" to developing so-called "smart" molecules to block the protein's function. The researchers said information from this discovery may speed development of new therapies within 10 years. Continue reading
In the year following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), bone mineral content declines significantly in men, according to findings published in the American Journal of Cardiology. Declines in bone mineral have been shown to increase the risk of fracture.
Dr. Larry E. Miller, of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and colleagues evaluated changes in bone mineral and body composition in 26 men, between the ages of 50 and 79 years, who underwent CABG. In each patient, blockages were removed in more than one coronary artery, the blood vessels that pass through the heart to provide oxygen-infused blood to the rest of the body. The investigators performed dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, a method of measuring bone mineral content, before surgery and at 3 months and 1 year after treatment. Continue reading
Variations in one specific gene appear to be behind several different autoimmune and auto-inflammatory diseases. The pinpointed region of chromosome 17, called NALP1, could be a new target for treatment, said the authors of a study in the March 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"This part of the immune system may respond to triggers coming from the environment, like bacteria or viruses, and there are indications that you can turn it off. So, we're very, very hopeful that there may be drugs that allow us to do that," said the study's senior author, Dr. Richard A. Spritz, who directs the Human Medical Genetics Program at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center. Spritz added, "That's not going to help people with childhood diabetes, where the damage is already complete. But, for a number of chronic autoimmune disorders, like lupus and vitiligo, if you turn off the autoimmune process, the body could repair itself." Continue reading
Coffee lovers who are in good health may have little reason to cut back, at least as far as their blood pressure is concerned, a new study suggests. Because the caffeine in coffee and other foods can cause a short-term spike in blood pressure, there's been concern that coffee drinking may over time raise the risk of high blood pressure. Studies, however, have come to inconsistent conclusions.
In the new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that healthy women who drank upwards of six cups of coffee per day were no more likely than abstainers to develop high blood pressure over the next decade. On the other hand, women who drank coffee occasionally or in moderation -- reporting anywhere from zero to three cups a day -- had a higher risk of developing high blood pressure than the heavy coffee drinkers or the abstainers. For men, the risk of high blood pressure did not significantly increase or decrease, regardless of how much coffee they drank each day. However, men who abstained did have a lower risk than any coffee drinkers. Continue reading
High levels of vitamin D, obtained through the diet or through supplements, during pregnancy appear to reduce the risk of recurrent wheeze or wheeze symptoms in early childhood, according to the findings of two studies reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In the first study, Dr. Carlos A. Camargo, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues used a food questionnaire to assess vitamin D levels during pregnancy and then correlated these findings with recurrent wheeze in the child at 3 years of age. A total of 1,194 mother-child pairs were included in the analysis. The average total vitamin D level during pregnancy was 548 IU per day. Recurrent wheeze was identified in 186 children, the report indicates. Mothers in the top 25 percent of vitamin D were 61-percent less likely to have a child with recurrent wheeze compared with those in the lowest 25 percent. Continue reading
People who eat a diet high in fruit and low in meat reduce their risk of developing colon cancer, researchers reported on Wednesday. Their study supports other research showing that meat can raise the risk of getting cancer, especially colon cancer, and offers details about what other factors in the diet might be important.
The team at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill interviewed 725 people who had just had colonoscopies about their diet, smoking and other habits. Of these, 203 had learned they had adenomas, polyps that often turn into tumors and are removed during a colonoscopy. Gregory Austin and colleagues analyzed the answers and found there were three groups -- people who ate a lot of fruit but little meat, people who ate a lot of vegetables and a moderate amount of meat, and people who simply ate a lot of meat. Continue reading