Loss for cigarette maker in Florida smoker trial
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A Florida jury ruled on Thursday that a smoker’s death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes, a legal setback for cigarette giant Philip Morris in the first of potentially thousands of cases to go to trial.
The jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, decided in favor of Elaine Hess, the widow of longtime smoker Stuart Hess, who died of lung cancer in 1997 at age 55. He had smoked for 40 years.
The Hess trial was the first of about 8,000 cases filed following the Florida Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2006 to throw out a $145 billion jury award in a class-action lawsuit filed in the early 1990s by Miami Beach pediatrician Howard Engle on behalf of thousands of sick smokers.
Unrelated and mismatched cord blood transplantation can still help children with deadly conditions
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An unrelated cord blood transplant, even from a mismatched donor, can be effective in treating children with a host of life-threatening diseases and disorders including cancer, sickle cell anemia, and other genetic diseases, according to researchers in the Duke Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program. Unrelated cord blood may be easier to obtain than adult bone marrow, allowing for the treatment of more patients.
“We have done a terrific job in this country of increasing the number of volunteer donors listed in the National Marrow Donor Program registry over the past several years,” said Vinod Prasad, M.D., a pediatric oncologist at Duke. “But the fact remains that for many patients, finding a matched donor can be difficult. Ethnic and racial minorities have the hardest time finding a fully matched donor.”
The researchers will present their findings in an oral presentation at the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, February 13, 2009. The study was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Following peanut product recall, six in ten Americans taking steps to reduce risk of sickness
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A new national survey conducted by the Harvard Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health finds that the vast majority (93%) of Americans have heard or read about the recent ongoing recall of peanut products. Among those who are aware of the recall, about six in ten (61%) say they have taken one or more precautions to reduce their risk of getting sick from contaminated peanut products. Specifically, about one in four say they have checked ingredient lists on foods in the grocery store to make sure they know which products contain peanuts (27%), thrown away foods in their home that they think might be on the recall list (25%), stopped ordering foods containing peanuts in restaurants (22%), and stopped eating those foods they heard were in the recall (28%), while 15% say they have stopped eating all foods containing peanuts.
The poll also finds that among those who are aware of the recall, one in four (25%) mistakenly believe that major national brands of peanut butter are involved in the recall. Seventy percent correctly identify peanut butter crackers as being involved. However, less than half are aware that several other products containing peanuts have been recalled, including some in each of the following food categories: snack bars (49%), cakes, brownies, and cookies (45%), pet treats (43%), candy (39%), pre-packaged meals (36%), ice cream (27%), and jars or cans of dry-roasted peanuts (23%).
The survey was conducted between February 4-8, 2009, during the peanut product recall that began on January 12, 2009.
Women’s Cancer Outcome Improved by Surgical Evaluation
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Many women scheduled to undergo hysterectomy for pre-cancerous cell changes actually need a more comprehensive surgery, something they should discuss with a gynecologic oncologist, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
If seen by a specialist, it should be recommended they undergo a procedure that focuses on lymph nodes and other organs not involved in a traditional hysterectomy, said Warner Huh, M.D., a researcher at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The finding was presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists’ 2009 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer in San Antonio.
“Given the high rate of endometrial cancer, these data strongly suggest all women who have abnormal bleeding and a diagnosis of pre-cancerous lesions of the uterus should be evaluated by a gynecologic oncologist,” Huh said.
When it comes to elephant love calls, the answer lies in a bone-shaking triangle
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Many a love-besotted soul has declared they would move the world for their true love, but how many actually accomplish that task in their quest to unite with a lover?
Poets and romantics may argue the point, but research has shown that elephants issuing calls, including those of love—more precisely, females in estrus—produce not only audible sounds, but also low-frequency seismic vibrations that can travel through the near-surface soils for distances up to several kilometers.
And though we humans may claim to feel our lover’s call in our heart, soul or other organs of either physical or philosophical origin, most of us need said love call to caress the hair cells of our inner ears for it to register in what is arguably our most important love/sex organ—our brain.
Elephants, however, have two highly developed additional sensory systems at their disposal, both of which can be used for detecting the potential mate’s seismic signals (humans have both, too, just not tuned to using vibrations as communication). One system is bone conduction, in which the vibrations travel from the toe tips into the foot bones, then up the leg and into the middle ear. The other, somatosensory reception, involves vibration-sensitive cells in the bottom of the foot that send signals to the brain via nerves.
How and Where Fat Is Stored Predicts Disease Risk Better than Weight
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A study in mice indicates that overeating, rather than the obesity it causes, is the trigger for developing metabolic syndrome, a collection of heath risk factors that increases an individual’s chances of developing insulin resistance, fatty liver, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
How and where the body stores excess, unused calories appears to matter most when determining a person’s risk of developing metabolic syndrome, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center suggest.
“Most people today think that obesity itself causes metabolic syndrome,” said Dr. Roger Unger, professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study. “We’re ingrained to think obesity is the cause of all health problems, when in fact it is the spillover of fat into organs other than fat cells that damages these organs, such as the heart and the liver. Depositing fatty molecules in fat cells where they belong actually delays that harmful spillover.”
Scientists Discover Leptin Can Also Aid Type 1 Diabetics
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Terminally ill rodents with type 1 diabetes have been restored to full health with a single injection of a substance other than insulin by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists.
Since the discovery of insulin in 1922, type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes) in humans has been treated by injecting insulin to lower high blood sugar levels and prevent diabetic coma. New findings by UT Southwestern researchers, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that insulin isn’t the only agent that is effective. Leptin, a hormone produced by the body’s fat cells, also lowers blood glucose levels and maintains them in a normal range for extended periods, they found.
“The fact that these animals don’t die and are restored to normal health despite a total lack of insulin is hard for many researchers and clinicians to believe,” said Dr. Roger Unger, professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study. “Many scientists, including us, thought it would be a waste of time to give leptin in the absence of insulin. We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that insulin is the only substance that can correct the consequences of insulin deficiency.”
Few major complications after prostate radiation
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Less than 7 percent of men with prostate cancer who have radiation therapy experience major complications in the first 30 days, new research shows.
Radiation therapy “is quite safe for older patients, although it is associated with a small but measurable increase in short-term major complications,” Dr. Shabbir M. H. Alibhai from University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada told Reuters Health.
Alibhai and colleagues compared major 30-day complications in men who had radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate) for early “organ-confined” prostate cancer.
Despite being older and having more co-existing illnesses, men who received radiation had lower complication rates in each category compared with men who had surgery, the investigators found.
Moles and melanoma risk similar worldwide
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Although where one lives may influence the risk for skin cancer, people with a large number of moles seem to have a consistent risk regardless of their latitude of residence, researchers have found.
Moles, also known as melanocytic nevi, are a precursor of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.
“We carried out a study in collaboration with groups around the world to further understand the risk for melanoma that is associated with having large number of nevi,” Dr. Julia A. Newton-Bishop told Reuters Health.
Migraine ups risk of high BP during pregnancy
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New research suggests that women who suffer migraine headaches are at increased risk for developing high blood pressure during pregnancy, a condition known as gestational hypertension, as well as preeclampsia—a condition of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure, fluid retention and protein in urine.
Several studies have looked at the link between migraine and high blood pressure during pregnancy, but due to their “methodological weaknesses” these studies have provided only weak evidence of the association between migraine and onset of high blood pressure in pregnancy, Dr. Fabio Facchinetti, from the University of Modena, Italy, and colleagues explain in the medical journal Cephalalgia.
To investigate further, they studied 702 pregnant women with normal blood pressure who were seen at clinics in Northern Italy.
They call it Mellow Yellow?
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A hardline Hindu organization, known for its opposition to “corrupting” Western food imports, is planning to launch a new soft drink made from cow’s urine, often seen as sacred in parts of India.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or National Volunteer Corps, said the bovine beverage is undergoing laboratory tests for the next 2 to 3 months but did not give a specific date for its commercial release.
The flavor is not yet known, but the RSS said the liquid produced by Hinduism’s revered holy cows is being mixed with products such as aloe vera and gooseberry to fight diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
Low vitamin D tied to higher body fat in women
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Overweight? Part of the problem may be low vitamin D levels, a new study hints.
Among a group of 90 young women living in sunny southern California, those with insufficient levels of vitamin D were significantly heavier and had greater body mass than their counterparts with sufficient levels of vitamin D, Dr. Vicente Gilsanz, of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and colleagues found.
These findings suggest “obesity is related to vitamin D insufficiency,” Gilsanz told Reuters Health.
Vitamin D, which regulates bone metabolism, is mostly obtained through exposure of the skin to direct sunlight. Insufficient vitamin D is thought to impact bone health, and may play a role in obesity.
Durability of dental fillings improves if the enzyme activity of teeth is inhibited
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Composite dental fillings have one problematic feature, in that the bond between the filling and the dental tissue deteriorates over time – in fact, sometimes by as much as 50 per cent in one year. As the bond deteriorates, it may allow bacteria to enter and this brings a high risk of further tooth decay.
Professor Tjäderhane has researched the occurrence of certain enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), in the dental tissue and their role in dental conditions. The MMPs break down the extracellular matrix, including collagen, which is a major component of dentin. As a result of international research collaboration, Professor Tjäderhane’s research team has shown that human dentin contains the key MMP for breaking down collagen.
The bonding of composite resins with dental tissue is based on the use of collagen bonds, and the tooth’s own MMPs are responsible in part for the deterioration of the bond over time. By inhibiting the activity of these enzymes, the research team has succeeded in significantly slowing down the deterioration of the bond between dental tissue and a composite filling, and in some cases to prevent deterioration completely.
Investigational study of ustekinumab in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis published
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A group of patients suffering from potentially debilitating psoriatic arthritis showed significant and prolonged improvement after treatment with ustekinumab, according to data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in patients with moderate to severe psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The Phase 2 study was published in the British medical journal The Lancet.
“This is a positive development for patients living with the joint pain and swelling that characterizes the disease, even as more research is needed to further test the efficacy of this treatment in psoriatic arthritis,” said Alice Gottlieb, MD, Chairperson of the Department of Dermatology at Tufts Medical Center and lead author of the study.
Tufts Medical Center was among several academic medical centers which participated in the study. Tufts Medical Center is a 451-bed hospital in Boston and the primary teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine.
Researchers link obesity to birth defects
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Obese women are more likely to give birth to children with spina bifida, heart problems, cleft palate and a number of other defects, British researchers said on Tuesday.
The findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association underscore obesity’s role as a major health problem and add to evidence that being too heavy while pregnant carries risks for both mother and child.
Katherine Stothard and colleagues from Britain’s Newcastle University combined data from 18 studies to look at the risk of abnormalities of babies whose mothers were obese or overweight.
