Annals of Internal Medicine
New study: Coffee drinkers have slightly lower death rates than people who do not drink coffee
Regular coffee drinking (up to 6 cups per day) is not associated with increased deaths in either men or women. In fact, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption is associated with a somewhat smaller rate of death from heart disease.
Contact: Steve Majewski
SMajewski@acponline.org
215-351-2514
American College of Physicians
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
ENDO 08: 90th Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Age at puberty linked to mother's prenatal diet
A high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing may lead to the child having an early onset of puberty and subsequent adulthood obesity, according to a new animal study. The results were presented Monday, June 16, at the Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Contact: Aaron Lohr
alohr@endo-society.org
240-482-1380
The Endocrine Society
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Medicines derived from cannabis: a review of adverse events
Researchers at the McGill University Health Center, McGill University and the University of British Columbia determined that medical use of cannabinoids do not cause an increase in serious adverse events, but are associated with an increase in some nonserious adverse events. Their study will be published June 16 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, FRSQ
Contact: Isabelle Kling
isabelle.kling@muhc.mcgill.ca
514-843-1560
McGill University Health Centre
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Nanotechnology, biomolecules and light unite to 'cook' cancer cells
Researchers are testing a new way to kill cancer cells selectively by attaching cancer-seeking antibodies to tiny carbon tubes that heat up when exposed to near-infrared light.
Cancer Immunobiology Center at UT Southwestern, Robert A. Welch Foundation, US Department of Defense, Center for Applied Biology at UT Dallas
Contact: Amanda Siegfried
amanda.siegfried@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Archives of Surgery
Type and severity of combat wounds in Iraq war have changed over time
The transition in Iraq from maneuver warfare to insurgency warfare is associated with changes in the type and severity of injuries treated by surgical units of the US Marine Corps, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In the second, insurgent phase of the war, injuries have been more severe, transport times longer, more injuries have occurred per individual and more soldiers have been killed in action or died of their wounds.
Contact: Raquel Santiago
216-444-4235
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Annals of Internal Medicine
HIV screening found cost-effective in older adults
Recent studies suggest that large numbers of Americans remain sexually active well into their 60's, 70's and even 80's. But researchers at Duke University Medical Center say seniors may be overlooked as possible carriers of the AIDS virus, and based on a new study, they are recommending screening for most adults ages 55 to 75 as a sensible, cost-effective way to prolong life, and decrease the spread of the disease.
US Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH/National Institute of Aging, Ontario HIV Treatment Network
Contact: Michelle Gailiun
michelle.gailiun@duke.edu
919-660-1306
Duke University Medical Center
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
ENDO 08: 90th Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society
Heightened sense of taste can promote weight loss
People can lose weight by flavoring their food with calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners, which may make them feel full faster and decrease their consumption, according to a new study. The results will be presented at the Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Contact: Aaron Lohr
alohr@endo-society.org
240-482-1380
The Endocrine Society
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
55th Annual Meeting of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Research
Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PET imaging focuses on medication's purported ability to improve mental performance
Concerned by the growing numbers of people using stimulant medications such as methylphenidate -- either legally or illegally -- to improve attention and focus, researchers used positron emission tomography imaging with the radiotracer fluorodeoxyglucose to assess the effects of the drug on brain function in the normal human brain.
Contact: Amy Shaw
ashaw@snm.org
703-652-6773
Society of Nuclear Medicine
A Bounty of Midsize Planets Is Reported
By DENNIS OVERBYE
The newly identified planets range in mass from slightly bigger than Earth to about twice as massive as Neptune.
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Archives of Sexual Behavior
Society's attitudes have little impact on choice of sexual partner
A unique new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institute suggests that the attitude of families and the public have little impact on if adults decide to have sex with persons of the same or the opposite sex. Instead, hereditary factors and the individual's unique experiences have the strongest influence on our choice of sexual partners.
Contact: KI Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex
Brain scans have provided the most compelling evidence yet that being gay or straight is a biologically fixed trait
11:13 16 June 2008
Public Release: 16-Jun-2008
Immunity
LIAI researchers discover new cellular mechanism that will significantly advance vaccine development
La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology scientists have discovered one for the textbooks. Their finding, reported Friday in the scientific journal Immunity, illuminates a new, previously unknown mechanism in how the body fights a virus. The finding runs counter to traditional scientific understanding of this process and will provide scientists a more effective method for developing vaccines.
Contact: Bonnie Ward
contact@liai.org
619-303-3160
La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
Can parasites influence the language we speak?
In areas that are rich in parasites, risk of illness or death might mean populations never mix enough to exchange words or genes
17:17 16 June 2008
Public Release: 17-Jun-2008
ENDO 08: 90th Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
New weight loss diet recommends high-carb and protein big breakfast
Researchers have found a possible way to overcome the common problem of dieters eventually abandoning their diet and regaining the weight they lost. Eat a big breakfast packed with carbohydrates and protein, then follow a low-carb, low-calorie diet the rest of the day, the authors of a new study recommend. Results were presented Tuesday, June 17, at the Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Contact: Aaron Lohr
alohr@endo-society.org
240-482-1380
The Endocrine Society
Public Release: 17-Jun-2008
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Alcohol abuse can damage the brain by decreasing insulin and insulin-like growth factor receptors
Too much alcohol can cause permanent brain damage, such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which is largely related to thiamine deficiency. Previous animal studies have shown that alcohol can also cause brain injury and degeneration by inhibiting insulin and insulin-like growth factor. A new study using postmortem human brain tissue has found that chronic alcohol abuse can decrease levels of genes needed for brain cells to respond to insulin/IGF, leading to neurodegeneration similar to that caused by Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, New South Wales Department of Health, National Health and Medical Research Council
Contact: Nancy P. Cawley
ncawley@lifespan.org
401-444-4039
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Studies Support Testosterone Supplements for Older Men
Tuesday, June 17, 2008; 12:00 AM
Low testosterone levels put men at high risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and early death, but testosterone replacement therapy may help better the odds, according to new studies.
Contact: Aaron Lohr
alohr@endo-society.org
The Endocrine Society
Chimp’s Sex Calls May Reflect Calculation
By NICHOLAS WADE
Scientists believe the distinctive calls made by female chimpanzees during sex take social factors into account.
The Copulation Call of a Female Chimpanzee (Courtesy Simon W. Townsend)
Public Release: 17-Jun-2008
Health Affairs
US could face shortage of 44,000 primary care physicians by 2025
The wait to see a doctor could get a lot longer if the current number of students training to be primary care physicians doesn't increase soon, according to a new University of Missouri study. An MU researcher has found that the U.S. could face a shortage of up to 44,000 family physicians and general internists in less than 20 years
Contact: Christian Basi
BasiC@missouri.edu
573-882-4430
University of Missouri-Columbia
Public Release: 17-Jun-2008
Environmental Science & Technology
Latrines trounce toilets
Researchers at Michigan Technological University have found that, in the global war against poor sanitation, the lowly privy can trump the fanciest commode.
National Science Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency
Contact: Marcia Goodrich
mtunews@mtu.edu
906-487-2343
Michigan Technological University
Public Release: 17-Jun-2008
Journal of Neuroscience
Study indicates grape seed extract may reduce cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease
A compound found in grape seed extract reduces plaque formation and resulting cognitive impairment in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease, new research shows. The study appears in the June 18 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Contact: Todd Bentsen
tbentsen@sfn.org
202-962-4000
Society for Neuroscience
Marine life on 'junk food' diet – and we're to blame
Overfishing and climate change could be putting some mammals, birds and fish at risk by leaving only poor food sources to eat
15:19 17 June 2008
Really?
The Claim: A Spicy Meal Before Bed Can Disrupt Sleep
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
An old wives’ tale has it that a little kick to the palate before bed can lead to fitful sleep, if not nightmares.
 * Health Guide: Indigestion »
Really?
The Claim: A Spicy Meal Before Bed Can Disrupt Sleep
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
An old wives’ tale has it that a little kick to the palate before bed can lead to fitful sleep, if not nightmares.
 * Health Guide: Indigestion »
Essay
Eyes Bloodshot, Doctors Vent Their Discontent
By SANDEEP JAUHAR, M.D.
I have been hearing physician colleagues voice a level of dissatisfaction with medical practice that is alarming.
In the Art of a DNA Graph, the Colors of Uniqueness
By BINA VENKATARAMAN
“DNA Collage 1” is on the cover of the new issue of Connecticut Medicine and it is a “snapshot” of variations in the genome sequences of 62 people.
Helpful Bacteria May Hide in Appendix
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Researchers have come up with a novel explanation of why the appendix exists.
  * Health Guide: Appendicitis »
The Web Time Forgot
By ALEX WRIGHT
The Mundaneum Museum honors the first concept of a world wide wonder, sketched out by Paul Otlet in 1934 as a global network of “electric telescopes.”
The Man Who Wanted to Classify the World
'Oldest' computer music unveiled
A scratchy recording of Baa Baa Black Sheep is thought to be the oldest known recording of computer generated music.
Oldest recorded voices sing again
Stressed chimps like a cuddle as much as we do
Affection from a friend can reduce anxiety in chimpanzees after fights between individuals, according to biologists
11:27 18 June 2008
Public Release: 18-Jun-2008
Journal of Pediatrics
Caesarean sections associated with risk of asthma
Babies born by Caesarean section have a 50 percent increased risk of developing asthma compared to babies born naturally. Emergency Caesarean sections increase the risk even further. This is shown in a new study based on data from 1.7 million births registered at the Medical Birth Registry at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Contact: Media Contact
info@fhi.no
Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Public Release: 18-Jun-2008
IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Carnegie Mellon system estimates geographic location of photos
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have devised the first computerized method that can analyze a single photograph and determine where in the world the image likely was taken. It's a feat made possible by searching through millions of GPS-tagged images in the Flickr online photo collection.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Byron Spice
bspice@cs.cmu.edu
412-268-9068
Carnegie Mellon University
Public Release: 18-Jun-2008
FASEB Journal
Failure to bridle inflammation spurs atherosclerosis
When a person develops a sore or a boil, it erupts, drawing to it immune system cells that fight the infection. Then it resolves and flattens into the skin, often leaving behind a mark or a scar.
American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Dipali Pathak
pathak@@bcm.edu
713-798-4710
Baylor College of Medicine
Public Release: 18-Jun-2008
Science
Thinking ahead: Bacteria anticipate coming changes in their environment
A new study by Princeton University researchers shows for the first time that bacteria don't just react to changes in their surroundings -- they anticipate and prepare for them. The findings, reported in the June 6 issue of Science, challenge the prevailing notion that only organisms with complex nervous systems have this ability.
Burroughs Wellcome Fund, National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Contact: Steven Schultz
sschultz@princeton.edu
609-258-3617
Princeton University, Engineering School
Public Release: 18-Jun-2008
Nature
Genome sequence of lancelet shows how genes quadrupled during vertebrate evolution
The ancestor of all chordates, a group that includes humans and other vertebrates, probably looked like a sand-dwelling invertebrate called the lancelet or amphioxus. Its newly sequenced genome confirms that, and shows how vertebrates evolved over the past 550 million years -- through a four-fold duplication of the genes of our primitive ancestors. The sequence, generated by the Joint Genome Institute, and analysis by an international group of biologists is reported in Nature.
US Department of Energy, Moore Foundation
Contact: Robert Sanders
rsanders@berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
Public Release: 18-Jun-2008
PLoS ONE
High hormone levels in seabird chicks prepare them to kill their siblings
The Nazca booby, a Galápagos Island seabird, emerges from its shell ready to kill its brother or sister. Wake Forest University biologists and their colleagues have linked the murderous behavior to high levels of testosterone and other male hormones found in the hatchlings.
Contact: Cheryl V. Walker
walkercv@wfu.edu
336-758-5237
Wake Forest University
Healthy lifestyle turns off genes that cause cancer
With healthy eating, exercise, and low stress levels, a significant change in the expression of hundreds of genes takes place, say researchers
11:30 18 June 2008
Competition puts homeopathy on trial
The authors of a book that explores the science behind complementary medicine are offering a prize to anyone who can prove homeopathy works in a clinical trial
18:00 18 June 2008
Bad guys really do get the most girls
Men with the so-called 'dark triad' of personality traits – psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism – have a more prolific sex life
18:00 18 June 2008
Wet weather turns Cerne Abbas chalk giant into the invisible man
London Evening Standard
Personal Health
Cancer as a Disease, Not a Death Sentence
By JANE E. BRODY
For a small but growing number of patients, once-fatal cancer has become a chronic disease.
    * Health Guide: Cancer »
Meteorite could hold solar clues
A rare type of meteorite that could hold clues to the birth of our Solar System has been bought by London's Natural History Museum.  The Ivuna meteorite, obtained from a US private collection, has the same chemical make-up from which the Solar System formed 4.5 billion years ago.
Public Release: 19-Jun-2008
Science
Chemical clues point to dusty origin for Earth-like planets
Higher than expected levels of sodium found in a 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite suggest that the dust clouds from which the building blocks of the Earth and neighboring planets formed were much denser than previously supposed. The study, by scientists from the Carnegie Institution, American Museum of Natural History and US Geological Survey, is published in the June 20 issue of Science.
Carnegie Institution, NASA Origins of Solar Systems Program, NASA Cosmochemistry Program
Contact: Conel Alexander
alexande@dtm.ciw.edu
202-478-8478
Carnegie Institution
Public Release: 19-Jun-2008
British Medical Journal
Global war deaths have been substantially underestimated
Globally, war has killed three times more people than previously estimated, and there is no evidence to support claims of a recent decline in war deaths, concludes a study published online.
Contact: Rachael Davies
rdavies@bma.org.uk
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Public Release: 19-Jun-2008
Active submarine volcanoes found near Fiji
Several huge active submarine volcanoes, spreading ridges and rift zones have been discovered northeast of Fiji by a team of Australian and American scientists aboard the Marine National Facility Research Vessel, Southern Surveyor.
Contact: Edwina Hollander
Edwina.Hollander@csiro.au
61-893-336-569
CSIRO Australia
Public Release: 19-Jun-2008
Current Biology
Study of marine snail leads to new insights into long-term memory
UCLA cellular neuroscientists are providing new insights into the mechanisms that underlie long-term memory -- research with the potential to treat long-term memory disorders.
Contact: Stuart Wolpert
swolpert@support.ucla.edu
310-206-0511
University of California - Los Angeles
Public Release: 19-Jun-2008
Liter of fuel would last UK 1 year if cars had kept pace with computers
One liter of fuel would serve the UK for a year and oil reserves would last the expected lifetime of the solar system -- if efficiency in the car industry had improved at the same rate as in the computer world -- a leading computer scientist will tell an audience in Manchester on Friday, June 20, 2008.
Contact: Alex Waddington
alex.waddington@manchester.ac.uk
University of Manchester
Public Release: 20-Jun-2008
NeuroImage
Study shows that chronic grief activates pleasure areas of the brain
Most of us experience the grief associated with the loss of a loved one at some point in our lives. New research from UCLA now suggests that people who never get over their loss, who never "let go," may be activating neurons in the reward centers of the brain, possibly giving these memories addiction-like properties.
Contact: Mark Wheeler
mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2265
University of California - Los Angeles
Phoenix lander uncovers ice on Mars
It's official – Phoenix lander has become the first spacecraft to reach out and touch water ice on Mars
15:00 20 June 2008
Public Release: 22-Jun-2008
Nature Medicine
Drug reverses mental retardation caused by genetic disorder
A new UCLA study shows that the FDA-approved drug rapamycin reverses mental retardation in mice with a genetic disease called tuberous sclerosis complex. Because half of TSC patients also suffer from autism, the findings offer a possible mechanism for addressing learning disorders due to autism.
Autism Speaks, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, German Research Foundation
Contact: Elaine Schmidt
eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2272
University of California - Los Angeles
Leukaemia virus may protect against stomach cancer
People without the virus seem three times as likely to develop the cancer – this could be the first case of a beneficial virus
13:43 22 June 2008
Frolicking chimp youngsters spread deadly epidemics
Like human kids bringing back bugs from school, play among young wild chimpanzees may spread respiratory infections in the group
10:39 23 June 2008