Public Release: 14-Oct-2007
Nature Medicine
Blood test takes step toward predicting Alzheimer's risk, Stanford researchers find
One of the most distressing aspects of Alzheimer's disease is the difficulty in determining whether mild memory problems are the beginning of an inevitable mental decline. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a blood test that is a step toward giving people an answer two to six years in advance of the onset of the disease.
Contact: Mitzi Baker
mabaker@stanford.edu
650-725-2106
Stanford University Medical Center
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Cancer
Annual report to the nation finds cancer death rate decline doubling
A new report from the nation's leading cancer organizations shows cancer death rates decreased on average 2.1 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, nearly twice the annual decrease of 1.1 percent per year from 1993 through 2002. The findings are in the 'Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2004, Featuring Cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives' published online Oct. 15, 2007 and appearing in the Nov. 15, 2007, issue of Cancer.
National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Cancer Society, Indian Health Service, North American Association of Central Cancer Registries
Contact: NCI Office of Media Relations
ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov
301-496-6641
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Neurology
Simple eye scan opens window to multiple sclerosis
A five-minute eye exam might prove to be an inexpensive and effective way to gauge and track the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis, potentially complementing costly magnetic resonance imaging to detect brain shrinkage -- a characteristic of the disease's progression.
Contact: Eric Vohr
evohr1@jhmi.edu
410-955-8665
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery
Tonsillectomy associated with improved sleep and behavior in children with breathing disorders
Children diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing appear to sleep better and have improved behavior following removal of their tonsils and adenoids, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Contact: Bob Hallinan
913-588-5246
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
20th ECNP Congress
Depression and cardiovascular disease
Latest research is now available that helps us to understand which common biological changes are involved in the already known link between depression and life-threatening cardiovascular disease. Alexander Glassman will present and discuss the therapeutic consequences of these findings.
Contact: Alexander H. Glassman
ahg1@columbia.edu
European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Journal of Applied Physiology
Expecting an afternoon nap can reduce blood pressure
Where does the benefit lie in an afternoon nap? Is it in the nap itself -- or in the anticipation of taking a snooze? Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that the time just before you fall asleep is where beneficial cardiovascular changes take place.
Contact: Christine Guilfoy
cguilfoy@the-aps.org
301-634-7253
American Physiological Society

Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Scientists ramp up ability of poplar plants to disarm toxic pollutants
The most common contaminant at Superfund sites is the industrial solvent trichloroethylene. Experimental poplar plants, several inches tall and growing in a solution laced with trichloroethylene, were able break down, or metabolize, the pollutant into harmless byproducts at rates 100 times that of the control plants.
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Energy
Contact: Sandra Hines
shines@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Chemistry turns killer gas into potential cure
Despite its deadly reputation, the gas carbon monoxide could actually save lives and boost health in future as a result of leading-edge UK research. During Carbon Monoxide Awareness week, EPSRC highlights how researchers are harnessing the gas for beneficial use.
Contact: Natasha Richardson
natasha.richardson@epsrc.ac.uk
44-017-934-44404
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Impact of elevated homocysteine levels on vision under study
Homocysteine, an amino acid believed to contribute to heart attack, stroke and dementia, likely also is a player in retinal damage and vision loss, researchers say.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Toni Baker
tbaker@mcg.edu
706-721-4421
Medical College of Georgia
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
LSU professor studies army-ant-following birds
In the jungles of Central and South America, a group of birds has evolved a unique way of finding food -- by following hordes of army ants and letting them do all the work.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Ashley Berthelot
aberth4@lsu.edu
225-578-3870
Louisiana State University
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Journal of Neurophysiology
MIT: blood may help us think
MIT scientists propose that blood may help us think, in addition to its well-known role as the conveyor of fuel and oxygen to brain cells.
Thomas F. Peterson, Mitsui Foundation, McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Contact: Elizabeth Thomson
thomson@mit.edu
617-258-5402
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Public Release: 15-Oct-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Garlic boosts hydrogen sulfide to relax arteries
Eating garlic is one of the best ways to lower high blood pressure and protect yourself from cardiovascular disease. A new study from the UAB shows this protective effect is closely linked to how much hydrogen sulfide is produced from garlic compounds interacting with red blood cells. The researchers found this interaction triggered red blood cells to release H2S, which then led to the relaxation of blood vessels.
Contact: Troy Goodman
tdgoodman@uab.edu
205-934-8938
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Personal Health
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: October 16, 2007
Despite Strides, Listeria Needs Vigilance
There is good news about the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially deadly source of food poisoning. Since federal food safety officials threatened to toughen the rules to reduce listeria infections, things have improved. Listeriosis is not as common a cause of food poisoning as salmonella. Although listeriosis affects healthy people mildly, it is far more dangerous than salmonella poisoning for people who are susceptible to it.
In the Trenches
By JAN HOFFMAN
In a Competitive Middle School, Triage for Aches and Anxieties
As schools expand to include students with physiological and psychological challenges, the school nurse has become more than just someone to detect a fever from a fake.
Vital Signs
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Childbirth: Position of Woman’s Body Could Ease Delivery
Women who go onto their hands and knees while in labor may be able to reduce the pain of childbirth, researchers say.
Findings
By JOHN TIERNEY
Facts Prove No Match for Gossip, It Seems
Why do we gossip? Evolution may hold some surprising answers.
In Diabetes, a Complex of Causes
By AMANDA SCHAFFER
An explosion of new research is vastly changing scientists’ understanding of diabetes and giving new clues about how to attack it.
Key Human Traits Tied to Shellfish Remains
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
An international team of scientists have found evidence that suggests that Homo sapiens developed a taste for shellfish much earlier than previously thought.
Chlamydia reduces male fertility by ravaging sperm
The silent sexually transmitted disease - well-known to harm women's fertility - may harm male fertility too, by causing dramatic sperm damage
13:25 15 October 2007
Eating soya could slash men's sperm count
Just half a serving of soya products a day dramatically reduced men's sperm counts in a new fertility study – contradicting previous findings
12:17 16 October 2007
Healthy women warned over egg freezing
Experts warn against relying on frozen eggs to delay motherhood, meanwhile a study suggests children born from frozen eggs are healthy
14:55 17 October 2007