Anabolic Steroids Flip the Adolescent Brain’s Switch for Aggressive Behavior
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Anabolic steroids not only make teens more aggressive, but may keep them that way into young adulthood. The effect ultimately wears off but there may be other, lasting consequences for the developing brain. These findings, published in February’s Behavioral Neuroscience, also showed that aggression rose and fell in synch with neurotransmitter levels in the brain’s aggression control region. Behavioral Neuroscience is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Neuroscientists are deeply concerned about rising adolescent abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs), given the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s estimate that nearly half a million eighth- and 10th-grade students abuse AASs each year. Not only do steroids set kids up for heavier use of steroids and other drugs later in life, but long-term users can suffer from mood swings, hallucinations and paranoia; liver damage; high blood pressure; as well as increased risk of heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer. Withdrawal often brings depression, and recent research suggests that some AASs may even be habit-forming.
Virus may cause prostate cancer, study hints
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A newly identified virus, tentatively called XMRV, seems to be associated with the development of prostate cancer in genetically susceptible men, researchers report.
XMRV is closely related to a virus that causes leukemia in mice and is a “newly identified infectious agent in humans,” Dr. Eric Klein of the Cleveland Clinic said in a statement.
Rheumatoid arthritis costly for employers
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The medical costs of employees with rheumatoid arthritis are among the highest of any chronic health condition, new research suggests.
In a study of nine large U.S. employers, researchers found that workers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had an average yearly medical cost of $7,337, versus $3,250 for employees without the disease.
Considering direct medical expenditures and indirect costs—like disability payment and lost work days—RA was second only to kidney failure in expense. Nearly all of the excess costs of RA were for direct medical care.
Research Links Hunger Hormone to Learning and Memory
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The hormone produced in the stomach that tells you you’re hungry also helps you remember and learn, according to a new study co-authored by Saint Louis University scientists.
While more research is needed, the findings could point to a new direction for a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease: a replacement therapy for ghrelin, the hunger hormone, to restore memory.
“This shows a direct link between the stomach and the brain,” says John E. Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University and study researcher. “A human is truly what he or she eats.”
Study finds gene variant is no strong risk factor for osteoporosis
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Variations in a number of different genes and environmental factors affect an individual’s risk for osteoporosis. Several gene variants have been linked to osteoporosis, but few have stood the test of time.
The GENOMOS study, a large European collaboration led by Andre Uitterlinden (Erasmus University Medical Center), John Ioannidis (University of Ioannina), and Stuart Ralston (University of Edinburgh), now shows that a top candidate gene plays a role in osteoporosis, but with effects that are less marked than those described in previous studies.
The so-called Sp1 polymorphism in the COL1A1 gene is a plausible candidate: the gene contains the genetic information to make type 1 collagen, a major component of bone, and preclinical studies suggested that one of the two variants (the T version) led to weaker bones. Earlier genetic studies had found an association between the T variant and low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures, prompting some scientists to suggest that genetic testing of people for this variant could help in assessing fracture risk. The GENOMOS study was done to evaluate how good the COL1A1 genetic test was at predicting fractures and to determine if it was associated with osteoporosis.
Blood Pressure Guidelines for Stroke May Not Be Relevant to Many Patients
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Guidelines on blood pressure lowering after stroke may not be applicable to many patients under the care of their family doctor, warn researchers in this week’s BMJ.
International guidelines stress the importance of lowering blood pressure in people who have had a stroke. These guidelines are largely based on the results of the PROGRESS trial, which recruited people with stroke from hospital.
Study provides new evidence of the importance of reward pathways in the brain
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Deleting a specific gene in the brain has the same effect that antidepressants do in mice that have been conditioned to be depressed, report researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Mice are normally social animals, easily approaching and greeting unfamiliar mice. But when the strange mice are aggressive, a mouse over time becomes timid and withdrawn. Administering antidepressants such as Prozac improves their behavior, but so does deleting a gene called BDNF.
Treatments Based on Human Behaviour Could Reduce Drug Prescribing
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New psychological treatments - behavioural medicine - could significantly reduce the need for drug treatments for some conditions, cutting health system costs says an editorial in this week’s BMJ.
Behavioural medicine - using treatments borrowed from psychology such as cognitive behavioural therapy - has the potential to reduce pain, argue the authors. Treating a patient with a system of behavioural instructions before surgery, for instance, can lower the amount of anaesthetic required during the operation, and cut the time they need to stay in hospital.
Statin drugs may improve the endothelial dysfunction
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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine say preliminary results of a small study show promise in improving erectile dysfunction (ED) in men who had shown minimal reaction to Viagra. The study results are published in the March issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Erectile dysfunction is often a sign of a more severe vascular problem that involves abnormalities in the lining of the blood vessels. And often, endothelial dysfunction is an underlying problem for ED - it can be one of the first signs of atherosclerosis, a build-up of plaque and blockages in the arteries.
“It’s already known that there is a connection between erectile dysfunction and coronary disease. The risk factors are the same for both, and thus, ED can be a marker for coronary disease,” explains lead author Howard Herrmann, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “Normal erections are caused when nitric oxide is made, but with endothelial dysfunction, the body doesn’t make enough of it, causing the erectile dysfunction. Normally, Viagra prevents the breakdown of the little nitric oxide that is there, so that there is enough of it for an erection to occur.”
Green tea may protect the aging brain
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People who regularly drink green tea may have a lesser risk of mental decline as they grow older, researchers have found.
Their study, of more than 1,000 Japanese adults in their 70s and beyond, found that the more green tea men and women drank, the lower their odds of having cognitive impairment.
The findings build on evidence from lab experiments showing that certain compounds in green tea may protect brain cells from the damaging processes that mark conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Study questions ecstasy link to depression
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Ecstasy, the illegal recreational drug blamed by doctors for depression and anxiety, may often only enhance these symptoms rather than cause them, according to a study published on Friday.
Dutch researchers found that children who suffered from depression were more likely to go on to use the drug when they grew up to make them feel better.
The appearance later in life of emotional problems in these people might not therefore be primarily due to their use of ecstasy, but could reflect pre-existing conditions.
US senator questions FDA-approved blood study
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A key Senate Republican pressed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday for details on its role in the clinical trial of an experimental blood substitute being tested on trauma patients in 18 states, in some cases without their consent.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley asked the FDA to make a full public disclosure about the clinical trial of Northfield Laboratories Inc.‘s PolyHeme blood substitute, after its safety was called into question in a Wall Street Journal article.
“It is outrageous that, for all intents and purposes, the FDA allowed a clinical trial to proceed, which makes every citizen in the United States a potential ‘guinea pig’ without providing a practical, informative warning to the public,” the Iowa Republican said in a letter to acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach.
Indonesia launches campaign against bird flu
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Hundreds of Indonesian officials clad in white protective gear and masks fanned out across the capital on Friday to check thousands of fowl as authorities kicked off a door-to-door prevention drive against bird flu.
About 600 inspectors sprayed disinfectant in bird cages and chicken coops in the sprawling city where backyard chickens are common.
Bird flu has killed at least 19 people in Indonesia, the world’s second highest death toll after Vietnam, and many of the victims lived in or around Jakarta, which is estimated to have about 500,000 fowl.
Prostate cancer harder to spot in obese men
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Technical factors unrelated to underlying biology may make prostate cancer more difficult to detect in obese men in their early sixties or younger, researchers report in the Journal of Urology.
“We may be missing some cancers in younger obese men,” lead investigator Dr. Stephen J. Freedland told Reuters Health. “If we are missing some cancers, that means that by the time they are detected, there has been a delay leading to potentially a later-stage cancer. This could contribute to the worse outcomes we have observed among obese men.”
Obesity may be associated with decreased production of the tumor marker prostate specific antigen (PSA) and enlargement of the prostate make detection challenging.
New chest pain drug set for March launch, co. says
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CV Therapeutics Inc. Chief Executive Officer Louis Lange said on Thursday that the company’s recently approved drug for chest pain is on track to be in 30,000 pharmacies by the end of March.
Palo Alto, California-based CV Therapeutics last month received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Ranexa for treatment of chronic angina, the chest pain caused by an insufficient supply of oxygen to the heart.
Lange said the company’s 250-person sales force plans to begin marketing the drug at a major meeting of cardiologists next month in Atlanta and shipments will start shortly thereafter.
