Study shows drugs work differently in the brains of men and women
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Results from a government-funded study at Johns Hopkins provide what is believed to be the first evidence in people that amphetamines have a greater effect on men’s brains than women’s - a discovery that could lead to tailored treatments for drug abuse and neurological diseases.
The study, led by Gary S. Wand, M.D., a professor of endocrinology in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, found that men’s brains showed evidence of up to three times the amount of chemical dopamine as women’s when exposed to amphetamines.
The study will be published July 1 in The Journal of Biological Psychiatry.
Enzyme research points to better drugs and improved industrial processes
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Groundbreaking research on enzymes could revolutionise the way drugs are made and have major implications for the industrial sector, say its authors.
The University of Manchester team, working with colleagues in Bristol, has provided a unique insight into the working of enzymes - biological molecules that speed up chemical reactions in the body.
When these chemical reactions go wrong they can lead to disease, so modern drugs are designed to target enzymes and ‘switch them off’.
Chernobyl veterans ask Putin for treatment help
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Veterans of the desperate efforts to contain the Chernobyl nuclear disaster two decades ago pleaded with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for help treating the lingering effects of the accident.
Thanks to their heroic efforts to contain the disaster at the power station on April 26, 1986, the Soviet Union managed to build a concrete “sarcophagus” over its devastated fourth reactor, but not before it sent radiation across Europe.
Some of those sent to tackle the disaster died of acute radiation sickness, and many developed cancer and other long-term illnesses. Psychological problems have also been recorded in those involved.
Even the Least Dangerous Skin Cancer Is No Trivial Matter
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Basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer and the least dangerous - but it’s far from a trivial matter, reports the May issue of the Harvard Women’s Health Watch. The good news is that basal cell carcinoma rarely spreads (metastasizes), and it can easily be treated and cured when discovered early.
Basal cell skin cancers almost always occur in areas exposed to the sun: 80% show up on the head and neck. The face is particularly vulnerable. The most common form - nodular - usually shows up as a shiny bump and may bleed easily. It often ulcerates and crusts over. Superficial basal cell carcinoma forms a red, scaly, sometimes itchy spot and may have flecks of dark pigment. It’s often mistaken for a patch of dermatitis. Morpheaform, a rarer and more aggressive type, has a waxy white or yellow scarlike appearance and poorly defined borders.
Basal cell carcinoma grows slowly and occurs mostly in people over age 55. Sun exposure is the biggest risk factor. Treatment options include freezing, surgical removal, radiation, and topical creams. Each has a cure rate of 90% or more for first-time cancers.
Guidebook useful for irritable bowel patients
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Patients with irritable bowel syndrome can use a self-help guidebook to reduce the number of office visits, improve symptoms and lower health care costs, a new report suggests.
The findings suggest that primary care physicians should offer patients with functional abdominal symptoms information on what they can do to manage their condition, lead author Dr. Andrew Robinson, from Hope Hospital in Manchester, UK, and colleagues report.
The researchers assessed the outcomes of 420 patients, treated at 54 primary care centers, who were randomly assigned to receive a self-help guidebook, a guidebook plus a self-help meeting, or no extra care (control group).
Alcoholism more common in risk-taking men
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Previous research has shown that individuals with a family history of alcoholism have an increased risk of developing the condition themselves. Now, a new study has found that risk-taking behavior and male sex further increases this risk.
“There are some well-known risk factors for alcoholism that can help individuals recognize that they are at higher risk than others,” study author Dr. William R. Lovallo, of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oklahoma City, told Reuters Health.
“In this case, that knowledge can be used wisely by parents and teachers to try to insulate young persons and help them get through their early adult years without developing an alcohol or drug problem,” he added.
Low Folate Levels May Cut Bowel Cancer Risk
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Low folate levels may protect against colorectal cancer Online First Gut 2006; doi 10.1136/gut.2005.085480
Low levels of folate, a B vitamin found in fruits and leafy green vegetables, may cut the risk of bowel cancer, suggests research published ahead of print in the journal Gut.
The accepted wisdom is that high levels of folate protect against the disease, and there are currently moves in Europe to fortify foodstuffs with folate, primarily to prevent birth defects, but also to boost the health of populations.
Research Analyzes Level of Protection Provided by Children’s Bicycle Helmets
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Bicycle accidents are a common cause of traumatic injury in the United States. The most recent statistics indicate that there were an estimated 500,000 bicycle-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms in 2004. Of those, 69,500 were head injuries, and of the 600 bicycle-related deaths, about two thirds were attributed to traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Between 1984 and 1988, 557,936 visits to emergency rooms were related to bicycle accidents. About 6 percent (33,500) of these were serious enough to require hospital admission. In those same years, an average of 962 deaths annually resulted from these injuries. TBI caused 62 percent of all deaths resulting from bicycle accidents. Forty percent of deaths occurred in children age 15 and younger. Clearly, children are at the greatest risk of sustaining these injuries. Boys age 10 to 14 are at the highest risk. It is estimated that bicycle-related injury and death cost society $8 billion annually. Bicycle helmets are widely touted as a protective step against head injury. However, the degree of protection that they provide has not been widely investigated.
Researchers recently assessed the level of protection provided by children’s bike helmets. The results of this study, Quantification of the Protection Granted by Children’s Bicycle Helmets Using Engineering Tools and Experimental Design, will be presented by Chris A. Sloffer, MD, MBA, 4:30 to 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, during the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Francisco. The co-author of this study is Julian J. Lin, MD.
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Status Offers Potential for Meningioma Treatment
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Meningioma is typically a benign tumor of the meninges, the tissue that covers and surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It is one of the most common intracranial tumors and accounts for up to 26 percent of all adult brain tumors. Based on examination of tumor tissue microscopically, pathologists distinguish three different grades of meningioma that help predict the clinical behavior of the tumor, facilitate treatment planning, and enable an estimate of overall patient prognosis. These include grade I (benign), grade II (atypical), and grade III (malignant), comprising approximately 80 percent, 15 percent, and 5 percent of meningiomas, respectively.
In the vast majority of meningiomas studied, receptors for specific growth factors have been identified on the surface of the tumor cells. These growth factors are normally produced by the body and facilitate growth and maintenance of normal cells. However, tumor cells can overexpress the same receptors, which contribute to their abnormal growth by enabling these cells to utilize the corresponding growth factors. Because multiple growth factor receptors have been identified on subsets of meningiomas, neurosurgeons recently studied whether the presence or absence of these receptors on atypical meningioma tumor specimens may help predict whether the corresponding tumors will follow an indolent or aggressive clinical course.
The results of this study, Absence of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Immunoreactivity Defines a Subset of Atypical Meningiomas with a Distinctly Poor Prognosis, will be presented by Justin S. Smith, MD, PhD, 5:03 to 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, 2006, during the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Francisco. Co-authors are Anita Lal, PhD, Mianda Harmon-Smith, BS, and Michael W. McDermott, MD.
Research Compares Two Diagnostic Methods for Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
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Cerebrovascular disease is a leading cause of serious long-term disability, affecting as many as 700,000 people every year. The interruption of blood flow to the brain can be caused by a blockage, leading to the far more common ischemic stroke, or by bleeding in the brain, leading to the more deadly subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The latter condition affects approximately 30,000 Americans every year. Of those, about one half will not survive beyond 30 days, and an additional 25 percent will have some form of neurological deficit.
About 90 percent of all cases of SAH are caused by cerebral aneurysms. A cerebral aneurysm is a weakened part of an artery in the brain that results in a bulging or ballooning out of part of the vessel wall. Identifying the exact location, size and configuration of the aneurysm is critical to prevent rehemorrhage, which occurs in about 20 percent of cases within the first 14 days after the initial rupture. The current “gold standard” for identification is the diagnostic cerebral angiogram, which involves temporarily inserting a tube (catheter) into the artery of the leg (the femoral artery) and navigating it to the vessels of the brain (the two carotid arteries and the two vertebral arteries). Though very sensitive and very specific in identifying these potentially lethal aneurysms, the procedure is invasive and carries a small risk of causing ischemic stroke.
Neurosurgeons recently studied a relatively new method of testing, called computed tomographic angiography (CTA). This is performed by injecting a volume of contrast agent, similar to that used in the conventional angiogram, through a vein in the patient’s arm. The results of this study, Three-Dimensional Computed Tomographic Angiography (3D CTA) vs. Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) in the Detection of Intracranial Aneurysms in Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, will be presented by Charles J. Prestigiacomo, MD, senior author of the study, 2:45 to 3:00 p.m. on Monday, April 24, 2006, during the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Francisco. Co-authors are Aria Sabit, MD, Pinakin Jethwa, BS, and Jonathan Russin, BS.
Researchers Discover Gene for FOP, Profound Skeletal Disorder
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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have located the “skeleton key,” a gene that, when damaged, causes the body’s skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue to undergo a metamorphosis into bone, progressively locking joints in place and rendering movement impossible. Identifying the gene that causes fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), one of the rarest and most disabling genetic conditions known to humans and a condition that imprisons its childhood victims in a “second skeleton,” has been the focus at Penn’s Center for Research in FOP and Related Disorders for the past 15 years. This important discovery is relevant, not only for patients with FOP, but also for those with more common skeletal conditions.
Senior authors Eileen M. Shore, PhD, and Frederick S. Kaplan, MD, both from the Penn Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and their international consortium of colleagues, report their findings in the April 23 advanced online edition of Nature Genetics. “The discovery of the FOP gene is relevant to every condition that affects the formation of bone and every condition that affects the formation of the skeleton,” says Kaplan.
The discovery of the FOP gene was the result of painstaking work by the Penn scientists and their colleagues in the International FOP Research Consortium over many years. It involved the identification and clinical examination of multigenerational families, often in remote regions of the world; genome-wide linkage analysis; identification of candidate genes; and finally, the DNA sequencing and analysis of those candidate genes. The team found that FOP is caused by a mutation of a gene for a receptor called ACVR1 in the bone morphogenetic protein-signaling pathway.
Team to Examine Impact of Genetics and Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
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Whether exposure to secondhand smoke increases the chance that children with a family history of cardiovascular disease will develop the disease themselves is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.
If those children also have a variation in at least one of four genes responsible for metabolizing nicotine, their risk may increase even more because nicotine might stay in the body longer and do more damage, an interdisciplinary research team says.
Researchers will study 585 children age 15-20 who have a parent, grandparent or both with essential hypertension and/or a heart attack by age 55.
Concerns for inexpensive fertility drug appears to be unfounded
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Concerns about the use of letrozole, an easy-to-use and inexpensive drug for the treatment of infertility, appear to be unfounded, according to a major study.
The study was co-authored by Dr. Togas Tulandi, Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jewish General Hospital, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University. Their findings, which are currently available in an early online edition of Fertility and Sterility, showed that babies whose mothers were treated with letrozole had the same rate of birth defects as those whose mothers were treated with clomiphene citrate - the low-risk, first-line treatment for infertility for more than 40 years.
“We found no statistically significant difference in the overall rates of major and minor malformations or chromosomal abnormalities between newborns in the two groups,” says Dr. Tulandi. “Our findings indicate concerns about a link between letrozole and birth defects are unfounded. This is significant because it confirms that letrozole can indeed be used in the treatment of infertility without increasing risk to the fetus.”
Mental illness writers had industry ties
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Most of the experts who wrote the manual widely used to diagnose mental illness have had financial ties to drug makers such as research funding or stock holdings, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
Writing in a new study, they called for full disclosure of the relationships between companies and the medical experts on panels that craft future editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as the DSM.
“Transparency is especially important when there are multiple and continuous financial relationships between panel members and the pharmaceutical industry, because of the greater likelihood that the drug industry may be exerting an undue influence,” the researchers wrote in a study to be published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
FDA speaks out against marijuana legalization
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will publish a statement on Friday criticizing state measures to legalize the medical use of marijuana, calling them attempts to bypass scientific review.
The agency said it was posting the statement in response to requests from lawmakers and others, but advocates for legalizing marijuana said the FDA was making an unusual and inappropriate foray into politics.
“In response to inquiries, including from Congress, we are clarifying our position on the science,” said FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro in an interview.
