news 2012

High blood levels of Vitamin D may protect mothers more than babies against multiple sclerosis (MS), Umeå University researcher Jonatan Salzer concludes in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "In our study, pregnant women and women in general had a lower risk for MS with higher levels of the vitamin, as expected.

The value of health insurance should be included in official measures of U.S. income and poverty, because it will help us to better evaluate public policies like Obamacare, according to a new study by a Cornell economist and his colleagues. Using this methodology, they show that Obamacare will generate significant benefits for families in the lowest economic classes - benefits overlooked when using traditional calculations.

Our findings are extremely exciting because they show for the first time that transplanting these types of cell into a severely damaged spinal cord can bring about significant improvement." —Robin Franklin In a collaboration between the University's Veterinary School and MRC's Regenerative Medicine Centre, scientists used a unique type of cell to regenerate the damaged part of the dogs' spines.

Eating certain veggies not only supplies key nutrients, it may also influence hormone levels and behaviors such as aggression and sexual activity, says a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, that could shed light on the role of diet in human evolution. The research is the first to observe the connection between plant-based estrogenic compounds, or phytoestrogens, and behavior in wild primates - in this case, a group of red colobus monkeys in Uganda.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows, that a technique for measuring bone density called digital X-ray radiogrammetry (or DXR) used on standard hand radiographs can help to identify patients with a higher risk of hip fracture. The researchers believe that DXR, which is fully comparable with other, more costly methods, can be used preventively to identify people in the risk zone for osteoporosis - a disease estimated to effect some 200 million women worldwide.

AUSTIN, Texas — One of the most popular intervention therapies for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) lacks scientific support according to a literature review published by University of Texas at Austin Mark O'Reilly and an international team of scientists. The researchers reviewed 25 major studies on sensory integration therapy (SIT) to see if the current evidence base supports use of this therapy in the education and rehabilitation of children on the autism spectrum.

New technologies for sensing chemicals that people are exposed to and their effects in the body will help scientists work towards a complete picture of how environmental pollutants influence health in a major EU initiative being launched today. Researchers will use smartphones equipped with GPS and environmental sensors to monitor potential hazards that study participants are exposed to.

The prevailing wisdom has been that every cell in the body contains identical DNA. However, a new study of stem cells derived from the skin has found that genetic variations are widespread in the body's tissues, a finding with profound implications for genetic screening, according to Yale School of Medicine researchers.

Ovarian Cancer Patients Have Lower Mortality Rates at High-Volume Hospitals Women who have surgery for ovarian cancer have better outcomes if they are treated at high-volume hospitals, according to researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

Breastfeeding can help reduce a child's risk for obesity, says a new international study led by researchers at the University of Toronto. "The benefits of breast milk are well known. However, what is new is to find that breastfeeding can have a significant impact on children who have a genetic predisposition to obesity," said Laurent Briollais , assistant professor with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and senior investigator with Mount Sinai's Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute.

A survey of 755 Aboriginal people in four Victorian localities has found they experience extraordinarily high levels of racism, with at least 97 per cent having been targets of verbal or physical abuse, or discriminatory behaviour in the past 12 months. The survey by the University of Melbourne, VicHealth, Lowitja Institute, and beyondblue, announced at Congress Lowitja 2012 in Melbourne this week, found up to 70 per cent of those surveyed had been targets of eight or more racist incidents during the past year.

Caterpillar fungi (Cordyceps) are rare parasites found on hibernating caterpillars in the mountains of Tibet. For centuries they have been highly prized as a traditional Chinese medicine - just a small amount can fetch hundreds of pounds. Scientists at The University of Nottingham have been studying how this fungus could work by studying cordycepin, one of the drugs found in these mushrooms.

Rheumatoid arthritis - which affects more than 400,000 people in the UK and about 1% of the world's population - is a complicated disease: lifestyle and environmental factors, such as smoking, diet, pregnancy and infection are thought to play a role, but it is also known that a person's genetic makeup influences their susceptibility to the condition.

The reorganisation of the NHS in England, which will see new Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) - led by GPs - take responsibility for spending some £60 billion of public money, has generated much debate and discussion over the last two years. These groups were established during 2012 and have been preparing their organisations and plans ready to take on their new functions from next April.

A study led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has found a correlation between vitamin D3 serum levels and subsequent incidence of Type 1 diabetes. The six-year study of blood levels of nearly 2,000 individuals suggests a preventive role for vitamin D3 in this disease.

A University of Alberta-led research team has some positive news for British Columbia's pink salmon populations, and the salmon farming industry that has struggled to protect both captive and wild salmon from sea lice infestations. There has long been concern that concentrations of sea lice in B.C.'s fish farming pens spread to wild fish stock in surrounding waters.

Immobile patients are in constant danger of developing pressure ulcers on the skin. Researchers have worked together to develop a special sheet that is gentle on the skin and helps to make patients more comfortable.

Imperial's ever-popular Junior Research Fellowship Scheme has just welcomed its fourth cohort of 21 new Fellows to College, taking the total number of scientists supported by the scheme to almost 80. This year's Fellows are working in areas that include neurodegenerative disorders, neglected tropical diseases, algebraic geometry, electromagnetic waves, synchrotron X-rays, optoelectronics, quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Last March, researchers at UCLA reported the development of a molecular compound called CLR01 that prevented toxic proteins associated with Parkinson's disease from binding together and killing the brain's neurons. Building on those findings , they have now turned their attention to Alzheimer's disease, which is thought to be caused by a similar toxic aggregation or clumping, but with different proteins, especially amyloid-beta and tau.

An efficient, high-volume technique for testing potential drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease uncovered an organic compound that restored motor function and longevity to fruit flies with the disease, according to new research that could help put the search for an effective Alzheimer's drug on a faster track.