Medicine

Substituting soy nuts for other protein sources in a healthy diet appears to lower blood pressure in postmenopausal women, and also may reduce cholesterol levels in women with high blood pressure. The American Heart Association estimates that high blood pressure (hypertension) affects approximately 50 million Americans and 1 billion individuals worldwide. The most common-and deadly-result is coronary heart disease, according to background information in the article. Women with high blood pressure have four times the risk of heart disease as women with normal blood pressure. Francine K. Welty…

High uric acid levels in the blood are a precursor of gout, the most common inflammatory arthritis in adult men. It is believed that coffee and tea consumption may affect uric acid levels but only one study has been conducted to date. A new large-scale study published in the June 2007 issue of Arthritis Care & Research (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritiscare) examined the relationship between coffee, tea, caffeine intake, and uric acid levels and found that coffee consumption is associated with lower uric acid levels but that this appears to be due to components other…

Smoking is generally regarded as bad for you. I can't find a single person who will argue today that smoking is neutral, much less good for you. Nonetheless, even though we have spent billions of dollars advertising the facts of smoking and imposed punitive taxes on smokers, almost 30% of adults still do it. Endangered species That's not good enough. Like any fundamentalist group, it's not enough until everyone has stopped and repented their sins, and anti-smoker groups can always find a new study to help them out. The latest salvo? If you smoke, you might be giving your child ADD.…

Studies have shown that gastrointestinal (GI) tract function is often influenced by specific stimulants or reactors, which sometimes cause irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or constipation. Two studies presented today at Digestive Disease Week® 2007 (DDW®) take a closer look at GI stimulation, including one examining the role of serotonin and reactions to certain types of foods and another looking at the potential therapeutic value of nerve stimulation for constipation. DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology,…

Good news for harried housewives everywhere. Sometimes a house can be too clean. It turns out that kids may need exposure to common bacteria to develop proper immunities. Endotoxin, a toxic substance made by certain types of bacteria, may reduce the risk of developing the allergic skin condition eczema or wheezing in children if they are exposed to it up to age 3, suggests a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Sunday, May 20. Endotoxin is a part of the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria, a type of bacteria that often causes disease. Endotoxin…

Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine have found that patients with obstructive sleep apnea are at increased risk for developing of type II diabetes, independent of other risk factors. The study looked at 593 patients at the VA Connecticut Health Care System referred for evaluation of sleep-disordered breathing. Each patient spent a night in a sleep laboratory to undergo a sleep study, called polysomnography. The researchers followed the subjects for up to six years and found that patients diagnosed with sleep apnea had more than two-and-half times the risk of developing…

Protected by its own nutrients and blood supply, a beating heart supported by an investigational organ preservation device was successfully transplanted into a 47-year-old man with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension on Sunday, April 8. The surgery was performed at UPMC by Kenneth R. McCurry, M.D., assistant professor of surgery, division of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of cardiopulmonary transplantation at UPMC's Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute. UPMC

Multidrug-resistant strains of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex have been infecting injured soldiers treated in US military hospitals in Iraq. US soldiers in Iraq do not carry the bacteria responsible for these difficult-to-treat wound infections. Investigator Matthew E. Griffith, MD, (Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas) and colleagues found that drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex are not present on the skin of uninjured soldiers in Iraq, as had been expected. A. calcoaceticus-baumannii complex is an…

Close on the heels of a large-scale clinical trial just underway to confirm that the female hormone estriol combats the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) in women, a just completed pilot study at UCLA now shows promise for the use of testosterone to combat its effects in men. Reporting in the May issue of the journal Archives of Neurology, Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, the director of UCLA’s Multiple Sclerosis Program, and her colleagues have found that the application of a testosterone gel for men with MS reduced symptoms, slowed brain degeneration and increased muscle mass in men with relapsing-…

The DNA Network is a FeedBurner network made by Hsien-Hsien Lei of Eye on DNA and Rick Vidal of My Biotech Life. They were very kind and asked me to join this great project. The official description says: A network (double helix?) composed of life science enthusiasts with specialized views in areas such as genetics, biology, biotechnology, health care, and much more. So this is an aggregation of the latest posts and articles of the best genetic and genomic blogs. It currently consists of the following members: My Biotech Life DNA Direct Talk Epidemix Epigenetics News evolgen Eye on DNA…