EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 29-Nov-2012

PLOS ONE
Prenatal intervention reduces learning deficit in mice
Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 28-Nov-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
HIV treatment reduces risk of malaria recurrence in children, NIH funded study shows
A combination of anti-HIV drugs has been found to also reduce the risk of recurrent malaria by nearly half among HIV-positive children, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Cell Reports
NIH study suggests immune system could play a central role in AMD
Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults. The findings are epigenetic in nature, meaning that the underlying DNA is normal but gene expression has been modified, likely by environmental factors, in an adverse way. Environmental factors associated with AMD include smoking, diet, and aging. This is the first epigenetic study revealing the molecular mechanisms for any eye disease.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Nature Communications
NIH-funded researchers show possible trigger for MS nerve damage
High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, leaks into the central nervous system and activates immune cells called microglia.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 21-Nov-2012

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Recommendations and Reports
CDC and NIH survey provides first report of state-level COPD prevalence
The age-adjusted prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease varies considerably within the United States, from less than four percent of the population in Washington and Minnesota to more than nine percent in Alabama and Kentucky. These state-level rates are among the COPD data available for the first time as part of the newly released 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.

National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Public Release: 18-Nov-2012

Nature Biotechnology
Research breakthrough selectively represses the immune system
Innovative biotechnology selectively inhibits the part of the immune system responsible for attacking myelin and gives new hope to those suffering from autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, food allergies, and asthma.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 15-Nov-2012
Finalists of air pollution sensor challenge announced
Four finalists have been selected in the My Air, My Health Challenge, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and its challenge partners. Each finalist will receive $15,000, and will transform their designs to measure air pollutants and related physiological measurements into working systems. One overall winner will receive a cash award of $100,000 to be announced in June 2013.

NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Public Release: 15-Nov-2012

Scientific Reports
This is your brain on freestyle rap
Researchers at the NIDCD have shown that freestyle rapping is associated with a unique functional reallocation of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and proposes a novel neural network that appears to be intimately involved in improvisatory and creative endeavors.

NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Public Release: 14-Nov-2012

Environmental Health Perspectives
PCBs, other pollutants may play role in pregnancy delay
Couples with high levels of PCBs and similar environmental pollutants take longer to achieve pregnancy in comparison to other couples with lower levels of the pollutants, according to a preliminary study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 13-Nov-2012

JAMA
Migraine-associated brain changes not related to impaired cognition
Women with migraines did not appear to experience a decline in cognitive ability over time compared to those who didn't have them, according to a nine-year follow up study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study also showed that women with migraine had a higher likelihood of having brain changes that appeared as bright spots on magnetic resonance imaging, a type of imaging commonly used to evaluate tissues of the body.

Public Release: 11-Nov-2012

Nature Genetics
Gene variations linked to lung cancer susceptibility in Asian women
An international group of scientists has identified three genetic regions that predispose Asian women who have never smoked to lung cancer. The finding provides further evidence that risk of lung cancer among never-smokers, especially Asian women, may be associated with certain unique inherited genetic characteristics that distinguishes it from lung cancer in smokers.

NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 7-Nov-2012

Neurology
MRI and EEG could identify children at risk for epilepsy after febrile seizures
Seizures during childhood fever are usually benign, but when prolonged, they can foreshadow an increased risk of epilepsy later in life. Now a study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests that brain imaging and recordings of brain activity could help identify the children at highest risk. The study reveals that within days of a prolonged fever-related seizure, some children have signs of acute brain injury, abnormal brain anatomy, altered brain activity, or a combination.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 6-Nov-2012

PLOS Medicine
NIH study finds leisure-time physical activity extends life expectancy as much as 4.5 years
Leisure-time physical activity is associated with longer life expectancy, even at relatively low levels of activity and regardless of body weight, according to a study by a team of researchers led by the National Cancer Institute , part of the National Institutes of Health. The study, which found that people who engaged in leisure-time physical activity had life expectancy gains of as much as 4.5 years, appeared Nov. 6, 2012, in PLOS Medicine.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

Public Release: 5-Nov-2012

American Heart Association Annual Meeting

JAMA
2 NIH studies show power of epidemiology research; Underscore need to address health disparities
Heart disease risk factors are widespread among Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States, with 80 percent of men and 71 percent of women having at least one risk factor for heart disease, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 5-Nov-2012

American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions

JAMA
Therapy with bone marrow-derived stem cells does not improve short-term recovery after heart attack
Administering to patients stem cells derived from their own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health.

NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Public Release: 5-Nov-2012

Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences
First gene therapy study in human salivary gland shows promise
This finding comes from the first-ever Phase I clinical study of gene therapy in a human salivary gland. Its results show that the transferred gene, Aquaporin-1, has great potential to help head and neck cancer survivors who battle with chronic dry mouth. Aquaporin-1 encodes a protein that naturally forms pore-like water channels in the membranes of cells to help move fluid, such as occurs when salivary gland cells secrete saliva into the mouth.

NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Public Release: 4-Nov-2012

American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012

New England Journal of Medicine
Cardiac bypass surgery superior to non-surgical procedure for adults with diabetes and heart disease
Adults with diabetes and multi-vessel coronary heart disease who underwent cardiac bypass surgery had better overall heart-related outcomes than those who underwent an artery-opening procedure to improve blood flow to the heart muscle, according to the results from an international study. The research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Public Release: 2-Nov-2012

Science
In-sync brain waves hold memory of objects just seen
The brain holds in mind what has just been seen by synchronizing brain waves in a working memory circuit, an animal study suggests. The more in-sync such electrical signals of neurons were in two key hubs of the circuit, the more those cells held the short-term memory of a just-seen object. The work demonstrates, for the first time, that there is information about short term memories reflected in in-sync brainwaves.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 28-Oct-2012

Nature Genetics
NIH researchers identify novel genes that may drive rare, aggressive form of uterine cancer
Researchers have identified several genes that are linked to one of the most lethal forms of uterine cancer, serous endometrial cancer. The researchers describe how three of the genes found in the study are frequently altered in the disease, suggesting that the genes drive the development of tumors. The findings appear in the Oct. 28, 2012, advance online issue of Nature Genetics. The team was led by researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 23-Oct-2012

NIH Consensus Development Conference: Diagnosing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Independent panel to present findings on diagnosing gestational diabetes mellitus
The NIH Consensus Development Conference: Diagnosing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus is occurring Oct. 29-31, 2012 at NIH in Bethesda, MD.

Public Release: 19-Oct-2012
Weight loss does not lower heart disease risk from type 2 diabetes
An intensive diet and exercise program resulting in weight loss does not reduce cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke in people with longstanding type 2 diabetes, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Public Release: 18-Oct-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
Antibiotic shows promise in treating extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis
When tested in patients hospitalized with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) unresponsive to previous treatment, linezolid, an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections, proved largely effective when added to the patients' ongoing TB treatment regimen.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 17-Oct-2012

IDWeek 2012
NIAID tip sheet: IDWeek 2012
NIAID presentations at IDWeek 2012, a joint meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, featuring the latest science and approaches in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and epidemiology of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, across the lifespan.

Public Release: 15-Oct-2012
NIH Common Fund announces awards for Single Cell Analysis Program
The National Institutes of Health plans to invest more than $90 million over five years, contingent upon the availability of funds, to accelerate the development and application of single cell analysis across a variety of fields. The goal is to understand what makes individual cells unique and to pave the way for medical treatments that are based on disease mechanisms at the cellular level.

NIH Common Fund

Public Release: 15-Oct-2012

Obesity
'Biggest Loser' study finds modest diet and exercise can sustain weight loss
Exercise and healthy eating reduce body fat and preserve muscle in adults better than diet alone, according to a study funded and conducted by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The study was recently published online in Obesity and will be in a future print edition.