Foxlistan

Medicinska och vetenskapliga nyheter:

ScienceDaily.com (081203): "Particulate Emissions From Laser Printers"

"The cause is the fixing unit – a component that heats up as high as 220°C during the printing process in order to fix the toner particles on the paper,” explains WKI scientist Dr. Michael Wensing. The high temperatures cause volatile substances such as paraffins and silicon oils to evaporate, and these accumulate as ulta-fine particles. The scientists from Braunschweig observed similar phenomena – the formation of ultra-fine particles of volatile organic substances when heated – during typical household activities such as cooking, baking, or making toast."

ScienceDaily.com (081202): "Persistent Pollutant May Promote Obesity"

"The rise in obesity in humans over the past 40 years parallels the increased use of industrial chemicals over the same period. Iguchi and Katsu maintain that it is "plausible and provocative" to associate the obesity epidemic to chemical triggers present in the modern environment. Several other ubiquitous pollutants with strong biological effects, including environmental estrogens such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol, have been shown to stimulate the growth of fat storage cells in mice. The role that tributyltin and similar persistent pollutants may play in the obesity epidemic is now under scrutiny."

Umeå universitet- PM (081014): "Signalämnen i leder en nyckel till reumatism"

"Cellerna i knäleden kan producera signalämnen av vilka en del tidigare ansetts kopplade till nervceller och uttrycka receptorer för dessa. Dessa oväntade fynd kan ha betydelse för behandlingen vid kronisk ledgångsreumatism, skriver Ola Grimsholm i den avhandling han försvarar vid Umeå universitet den 17 oktober."

ScienceDaily.com (081012): "Air Pollution Can Hinder Heart's Electrical Functioning"

"Microscopic particles in polluted air can adversely affect the heart’s ability to conduct electrical signals in people with serious coronary artery disease, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association."

MedicalNewsToday.com (081001): "Cervical Cancer Vaccine: 'dangers Mean More Research Is Needed'"

"An independent health researcher is calling on the government for more research into the possible side-effects of the cervical cancer vaccine that is currently being given to teenage girls throughout the country.

Grace Filby, who won a Churchill Fellowship for her research into phage therapy, believes that not enough is known about the effects of the vaccine on children with pre-existing medical conditions and with weakened immune systems from their existing medication."

Karolinska Institutet- PM (080923): "Arbetsmiljön en orsak bakom ledgångsreumatism"

"Att miljöfaktorer spelar roll för uppkomsten av ledgångsreumatism är känt sedan tidigare. Framför allt att rökning och alkohol, tillsammans med genetiska anlag, ökar risken för sjukdomen. Nu har forskare vid Karolinska Institutet fått fram fynd som tyder på att även faktorer i arbetsmiljön kan öka risken att få ledgångsreumatism."

ScienceDaily.com (080808): "Multi-tasking Molecule Holds Key To Allergic Reactions"

"And the newly discovered role for IKK2's may not be limited to allergic reactions. Many fundamental processes in our bodies involve exocytosis, ranging from secretion of insulin in the pancreas to synaptic transmission, the process by which signals are passed from one nerve cell to another. If IKK2 is involved in these processes it may have a role in other pathologies such as diabetes and nervous system diseases."

ScienceDaily.com (080603): "Long-term Bouts With Hay Fever Worsen Ability To Breathe Through Your Nose"

"New evidence for the first time suggests that people suffering from hay fever (allergic rhinitis) will over time experience a progressive worsening of their nasal passage functioning, depending on how long they have the disorder, according to a new study published in the June 2008 edition of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery."

Umeå universitet- PM (080602): "Plastmjukgörare ökar könshormonproduktion"

"Gunnar Selstams forskargrupp vid Inst. för molekylärbiologi kan nu visa att lägre koncentrationer av ftalater istället ökar produktionen av könshormoner. På celler från testiklar och äggstockar hos han- och honmöss visar de att en av de vanligaste ftalaterna (MEHP) stimulerar bildandet av könshormoner hos båda könen. Enligt studien som publiceras i majnumret av tidskriften Reproduction är den sannolika mekanismen att ftalater, genom att påverka uttrycket av centrala gener i fettmetabolismen ökar mängden tillgängligt kolesterol, dvs. den grundsteroid varifrån samtliga könshormoner bildas. Detta är med andra ord en nyupptäckt verkningsmekanism för ftalater. "

ScienceDaily.com (080522): "Carbon Nanotubes That Look Like Asbestos, Behave Like Asbestos, Could Lead To Asbestos-related Disease"

"A major study published in Nature Nanotechnology suggests some forms of carbon nanotubes -- a poster child for the "nanotechnology revolution" -- could be as harmful as asbestos if inhaled in sufficient quantities."

ScienceDaily.com (080505): "Free Radical Link Suggested Between Pollution And Asthma"

"Free radical pollution in the air could be a cause of asthma, suggests Ms Duanne Sigmund, based at the University of Melbourne with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology."

ScienceDaily.com (080501): "One In Five Rooms Is 'Highly Contaminated' With Hidden Mold"

"Mould in the home is not just unsightly and indicative of poor hygiene standards; it is known to aggravate a range of medical conditions, such as asthma, rhinitis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This study set out to establish if more could be done to identify fungus as exacerbating these complaints."

ScienceDaily.com (080417): "Chemical Exposure May Increase Risk Of ALS, Study Shows"

""Although this finding could well be a chance observation, it merits further investigation, particularly because people with longer exposure to formaldehyde had a greater risk of developing ALS than those with shorter exposures," said study author Marc Weisskopf, PhD, of Harvard University in Boston. "People who reported 10 or more years of exposure were almost four times as likely to develop ALS as those with no exposure.""

ScienceDaily.com (080410): "Traffic Exhaust Can Cause Asthma, Allergies And Impaired Respiratory Function In Children"

"The results show that the children who were exposed to high concentrations of pollutants ran a 60 per cent higher risk of suffering of persistent asthma symptoms. Respiratory function was also adversely affected, and the children were much more likely to be allergic to airborne allergens, particularly pollen."

Karolinska Institutet- PM (080409): "Luftföroreningar kan orsaka astma, allergier och försämrad lungfunktion hos barn"

"Resultaten visar att de barn som utsattes för höga halter av luftföroreningar hade 60 procent större risk att drabbas av långvariga astmabesvär. Även lungfunktionen påverkades negativt. Dessutom var dessa barn i större utsträckning allergiska mot luftburna allergen, särskilt mot pollen."

Umeå universitet- PM (080408): "Vart tredje skolbarn har smärtproblem"

"Ett viktigt fynd i avhandlingen är att barn med återkommande smärta, speciellt om de har ont ofta, för det mesta har besvär från flera olika ställen på kroppen. Det tyder på att dessa barn ofta har en allmän smärtstörning."

Umeå universitet- PM (080401): "Umeåforskare upptäcker nervsignalsubstans i områden utan nervceller"

"Det traditionella synsättet är att acetylkolin bildas från just nervceller, men Umeåforskarna har påvisat att de lokala cellerna i senvävnaden vid kronisk sensmärta själva kan producera acetylkolin och att cellerna dessutom uppvisar receptorer (mottagarställen) för det. Det är överraskande fynd, som nu har publicerats i flera tidskrifter. Helt nyligen har gruppen också visat att det även finns ett liknande, nervcellsoberoende system i tarmen vid inflammatorisk tarmsjukdom och i ledvävnaden i samband vid reumatoid artrit. "

ScienceDaily.com (080226): "Male Fertility May Be Harmed By Mix Of Endocrine Disrupters"

"Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which are harmless individually in small doses, can together be a dangerous cocktail. Concurrent exposure to several endocrine-disrupting substances may, among other things, result in malformed sexual organs. Risk assessments of chemical substances should therefore take potential cocktail effects into account."

Reuters- Health (080215): "Breathing dirty air may lower kids' IQ"

"She and her colleagues suggest that traffic pollution may exert harmful effects by causing inflammation and oxidative damage to the brain. They call for further research on the effects of pollution on the development of intelligence in children and on cognitive decline for people of all ages, including whether traffic exposure might cause or accelerate brain degeneration in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease."

MedicalNewsToday.com (080214): "Childhood Respiratory Disease Linked To Similar Adulthood Illnesses"

" A new study published in the journal Thorax reports that respiratory disease during early childhood - such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma - increases the risk of illness and premature death in adulthood."

Örebro Universitet- PM (080212): "Hälsofarligt arbete inom träpelletsindustrin"

"Arbetarna inom träpelletsindustrin utsätts för hälsorisker. Det visar Örebroforskaren Katja Hagström i sin doktorsavhandling i miljövetenskap. För hög exponering av trädamm kan leda till minskad lungfunktion. Dessutom kan hartssyran från kådan i träet orsaka hudproblem."

Columbia University Medical Center (080211): "Leaky muscle cells lead to fatigue"

"The new study shows that the fatigue that marathoners and other extreme athletes feel at the end of a race is caused by a tiny leak inside their muscles that probably also saps the energy from patients with heart failure.
The leak – which allows calcium to continuously leak inside muscle cells – weakens the force produced by the muscle and also turns on a protein-digesting enzyme that damages the muscle fibers."

ScienceDaily.com (080204): "Plastic Bottles Release Potentially Harmful Chemicals (Bisphenol A) After Contact With Hot Liquids"

"When it comes to Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure from polycarbonate plastic bottles, it's not whether the container is new or old but the liquid's temperature that has the most impact on how much BPA is released, according to University of Cincinnati (UC) scientists."

ScienceDaily.com (080203): "Explaining Chemotherapy-associated Nausea"

"Future studies also will evaluate whether the vagus nerve contributes to other side effects associated with chemotherapy, such as altered taste perception, fatigue, and stress."

Chemical & Engineering News (080204): "Bisphenol A Safety- Research results may call into question conclusions of a federal report"

"A STUDY conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri, Columbia, strikes at the heart of a federal panel's conclusions about the health concerns of bisphenol A (BPA)—the high-production-volume chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic (Repro. Tox. DOI:10.1016/j.reprotox.2008.01.001), say experts in the field."

Karolinska Institutet- PM (080130): "Svårt att diagnostisera födoämnesöverkänslighet"

"I dag antas oftast höga nivåer av så kallade IgE-antikroppar mot ett födoämne vara tecken på allergi, eller på att allergi kan komma att utvecklas. Eva Östbloms studier bekräftar att detta stämmer för mjölk, fisk och ägg. Däremot visar avhandlingen att sambandet inte gäller för soja, och att sambandet är otydligt för vete och jordnöt. Eva Östblom menar därför att metoden för att diagnostisera allergier mot soja, jordnöt och vete behöver därför förbättras."

ScienceDaily.com (080128): "Is Diabetes Linked To Environmental Pollution?"

"Interestingly, in the Lee study an association between obesity and diabetes was absent in people with low concentrations of POPs in their blood. In other words, individuals were more at risk of diabetes if they were thin with high levels of POPs in their blood than if they were overweight but with low levels of POPs."

MedicalNewsToday.com (080125): "Breakthrough Study Links Prostate Cancer, Depression, IBS, Adrenal Fatigue And Allergies To Lead And Mercury Toxic Load In Body"

"Better Health Publishing, announced the results of a breakthrough study in linking multiple medical conditions to the accumulation of toxic metals in the body. Research documenting the effects of modified citrus pectin combined with alginates on the positive clinical outcome of several patients, each with a different health condition appeared in the December-January issue of Forschende Komplementarmedizin (Research in Complementary Medicine), an international peer-reviewed medical journal."

MedicalNewsToday.com (080124): "Allergic Disease Linked To Irritable Bowel Syndrome"

"Adults with allergy symptoms report a high incidence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), suggesting a link between atopic disorders and IBS according to a study published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

In a study of 125 adults, Mary C. Tobin, M.D, Department of Immunology/Microbiology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and colleagues found the likelihood of IBS was significantly higher in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (2.67 times), patients with allergic eczema (3.85 times), and patients with depression (2.56 times)."

ScienceDaily.com (080122): "Stress At Work Is Linked To Heart Disease"

"The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary actions, such as the action of the heart, and it has a central role in the neuroendocrine stress responses. The signals that are sent to the heart by the vagus nerve, telling it how to work and controlling the variability of the heart rate, are mediated by the ANS. The researchers found that workers who suffered from greater stress were more likely to have lowered heart rate variability and poor vagal tone. They also found that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) -- a major part of the neuroendocrine system -- was disturbed by greater stress, and this was shown by the fact that stressed workers had higher than normal morning levels of cortisol. These results were independent of the workers' health behaviours."

MedicalNewsToday.com (080116): "The Brain Activity Behind Tinnitus Uncovered"

"Weisz had previously found that chronic tinnitus sufferers had different patterns of brain activity compared with those with normal hearing. The brains of tinnitus sufferers showed reduced alpha power (8-12 Hz) and enhancement in the delta (1.5-4 Hz) and gamma power (>30 Hz) brainwave range. These differences were especially pronounced in the brain's temporal cortical regions. In this research, slow wave brain activity was decreased during RI, but the higher alpha frequencies did not change."

ScienceDaily.com (080114): "How Allergic Reactions Are Triggered"

""These findings provide the genetic demonstration that CRAC channels are essential in mast-cell activation," notes senior author Jean-Pierre Kinet, MD, BIDMC Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. "This provides the proof of concept that an inhibitor of the CRAC channel should be able to impact mast-cell related diseases, including asthma and allergic diseases.""

MedicalNewsToday.com (080109): "Understanding The Role Of Stress In Just About Everything"

"Besides heart disease, PTSD, and depression, chronic stress has been linked to ailments as diverse as intestinal problems, gum disease, erectile dysfunction, adult-onset diabetes, growth problems, and even cancer. Chronic rises in stress hormones have been shown to accelerate the growth of precancerous cells and tumors; they also lower the body's resistance to HIV and cancer-causing viruses like human papilloma virus (the precursor to cervical cancer in women)."

"Stress is known to actually enhance one important immune response, inflammation, and increasingly this is being seen as the go-between in various stress-related diseases.

Ordinarily, inflammation is how the healthy body deals with damaged tissue: Cells at the site of infections or injuries produce signaling chemicals called cytokines, which in turn attract other immune cells to the site to help repair it. Cytokines also travel to the brain and are responsible for initiating sickness behavior. Overactive cytokine production has been found to put individuals at greater risk for a variety of aging-related illnesses."

Läkartidningen.se (080108): "Länk mellan astma och posttraumatiskt stressyndrom"

"Det finns en koppling mellan astma och posttraumatiskt stress syndrom (PTSD), och den främsta orsaken till detta är sannolikt inte genetisk. Det är de huvudsakliga resultaten av en tvillingstudie som presenteras i tidskriften American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine."

Läkartidningen.se (080108): "Ingen inflammation vid kronisk muskelsmärta"

"Resultaten visade inga tecken på förhöjd koncentration av den inflammatoriska substansen prostaglandin E2 i smärtande skuldermuskulatur, inte heller av nervsignalsubstansen glutamat, som misstänks ligga bakom ökad perifer smärtsignalering vid kronisk muskelsmärta."

MedicalNewsToday.com (080103): "Cause Of Harmful Allergies Identified"

"The participants who had experienced the worst anaphylaxis reactions also had the lowest levels of PAF acetylhydrolase - in other words, they had the lowest levels of the enzyme which breaks PAF down, they were the least able to control PAF levels. The article reports that in a separate study, it was found that nine children who had died as a result of anaphylaxis to peanuts also had significantly low levels of the enzyme."

ScienceDaily.com (071217): "Milk And Egg Allergies Harder To Outgrow"

"The findings also give credence to what pediatricians have suspected for some time: More recently diagnosed food allergies, for still-unknown reasons, behave more unpredictably and more aggressively than cases diagnosed in the past. “We may be dealing with a different kind of disease process than we did 20 years ago,” Wood says. “Why this is happening we just don’t know.”"

ScienceDaily.com (071124): "Naturally Occurring Chemical In Brain Enhances Visual Processing"

"Neuroscientists at New York University have found that a naturally occurring chemical in the brain can enhance visual processing and suggest that this chemical may represent part of the biological basis of visual attention. While the chemical, acetylcholine (ACh), had been known to increase the activity of individual neurons, it had not previously been shown that this activity enhancement leads to enhanced vision."

ScienceDaily.com (071024): "Direct Route From The Brain To The Immune System Discovered"

"Research is now underway to see whether tweaking the brain's acetylcholine system could be a natural way to control the inflammatory response. Inflammation is key to many diseases - from autoimmune conditions like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis to Alzheimer's, where scientists have identified a strong inflammatory component."

Göteborgs universitet- PM (071004): "Ofarliga kemikalier blir allergiframkallande i huden"

"Parfymämnen, konserveringsmedel och metaller är vanliga orsaker till så kallad kontaktallergi, som yttrar sig i form av hudeksem. Men även till synes ofarliga kemikalier kan omvandlas i huden till allergiframkallande ämnen."

ScienceDaily.com (070918): "Women More Depressed And Men More Impulsive With Reduced Serotonin Functioning"

"A new study being published in the September 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry now reports on important sex and genetic differences in the way that men and women react to reductions in serotonin function, specifically in terms of their mood and impulsivity."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070917): "American Discovery Revealed At 17th ERS Congress In Stockholm Certain Pesticides May Lead To Asthma In Farmers"

"A study of over 20,000 American farmers shows for the first time that pesticides are an independent risk factor for adult asthma."

ScienceDaily.com (070917): "Oil Spill Clean-up Volunteers Suffer Prolonged Respiratory Problems"

"Workers and volunteers who helped in the clean-up effort after the 2002 Prestige oil spill off the Galician coast of Spain exhibit prolonged respiratory symptoms resulting from their exposure, say researchers from Spain in the first study to examine the long-term effects of such exposures on workers' respiratory health."

ScienceDaily.com (070917): "Allergy-related Asthma More Common In Children Living In Affluent Countries"

"Children with allergic sensitizations in economically developed countries are much more likely to develop asthma than similarly sensitized children in poorer countries, according to a team of international researchers."

""This means that local environmental factors may affect asthma and allergy in different ways," said Renato T. Stein, M.D., Ph.D., of the Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, another researcher involved in the study."

Reuters- Health (070917): "Study finds any kind of exercise helps diabetics"

"Blood sugar levels fell with exercise and most importantly, hemoglobin A1c, which measures the blood sugar average for the past 3 months, fell by half a point on average in the people who did one form of exercise and a full point in those who did both."

"They said doctors should prescribe exercise to every diabetes patient."

ScienceDaily.com (070914): "Diesel Exhaust May Increase Risk In Patients With Heart Disease"

"The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that inhalation of diesel exhaust caused changes in the heart's electrical activity, suggesting that air pollution reduces the amount of oxygen available to the heart during exercise."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070913): "Diesel Exhaust Kills Throat Cells"

""Our research found that the particulate matter from diesel exhaust stimulated a 'death pathway' response that the body uses to dispose of damaged cells. This response caused the airway cells to fuse together and die."

ScienceDaily.com (070913): "Nicotine May Accelerate Atherosclerosis, May Be As Dangerous As Tar"

"Previous studies have suggested that nicotine in cigarettes can hurt the heart by activating the sympathetic nervous system and increasing the heart rate—potentially leading to fatal arrhythmias. (Nicotine also affects most organ systems—including the gastrointestinal tract, the skin and the central nervous system.)"

"Researchers also found that iPF2alphaV, a marker for oxidative stress that has been linked with atherosclerosis in humans, increased proportionately with the level of nicotine. This finding may indicate that nicotine promotes atherosclerosis, in part, by blocking production of nitric oxide, a chemical that mediates the protective functions of the lining of blood vessels."

ScienceDaily.com (070911): "Mold Linked To Asthma"

"A Cardiff University study has found that removing indoor mould improves the symptoms of people with asthma."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070911): "Inhaled Irritants At Work May Cause Vocal Cord Dysfunction"

"Vocal cord dysfunction is an illness produced by a closure in the vocal cords when inhaling. Under normal conditions, the vocal cords would be open. It is a relatively frequent illness that is often mistaken for bronchial asthma given patients' symptoms, such as coughing, sensation of choking, wheezing, hoarseness and difficulties in breathing. Sometimes the conditions are so severe that patients must be intubated or even admitted to an intensive care unit."

ScienceDaily.com (070910): "Crossing The Line Between Tired And Fatigued"

"Heyman notes that fatigue rarely stems from a single cause. “A lot of things happen that cause fatigue: our hormone levels change, our respiratory pattern changes, our heart rhythms change,” he says. “It occurs on all levels of the body, at the cellular level, the organ-system level, and can include psychiatric factors such as low energy from depression.”"

DiscoverMagazine.com (070907): "The 9/11 Cover-Up" & "World Plague Center"

"This article is part of Discover's package on the health effects of 9/11 air pollution on the people in New York City."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070906): "Toxic Mold May Pose Health Threat To Pets"

"Exposure to the mold can cause respiratory-related health problems, pulmonary hemorrhage and death in people."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070906): "Global Burden Of COPD: Risk Factors, Prevalence, And Future Trends"

"Two worldwide studies published in this week's edition of The Lancet observe the alarming growth rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)."

"Smoking is a primary risk factor for the disease, although it is heavily influenced by exposures to dusty working environments, air pollution, diet, and genetic factors."

ScienceDaily.com (070906): "COPD Not Just A Disease Of The Lungs"

"The most common comorbidities associated with COPD are skeletal muscle abnormalities, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, lung infections, cancer, and pulmonary vascular disease. The authors say: "Chronic comorbid diseases affect health outcomes in COPD; in fact patients with COPD mainly die of non-respiratory disorders such as cardiovascular disease or cancer.""

MedicalNewsToday.com (070905): "Some Kids Suffering Vocal Cord Dysfunction Are Misdiagnosed With Asthma"

""Both asthma and VCD are very common, and emergency departments across the country are seeing more and more kids with these kinds of symptoms," said Karen McCoy, MD, chief of Pulmonology at Columbus Children's Hospital and a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "While they may appear similar to parents, the conditions act differently and must be treated differently. It is important that parents, coaches and family doctors are aware of the differences.""

ScienceDaily.com (070905): "Small Clumps Of Prion Proteins May Be Primary Cause Of Neurodegenerative Diseases"

"Working in close collaboration with an international group of researchers, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown for the first time that small clumps of abnormal prion proteins called oligomers cause the widespread death of neurons. In contrast, much larger prion aggregates known as fibrils proved to be far less toxic."

ScienceDaily.com (070905): "Cell That Triggers Symptoms In Allergy Attacks Can Also Limit Damage, Scientists Find"

"A blood cell known as a troublemaker for triggering the itch and inflammation in allergy attacks, the mast cell, can also calm down the flare-ups, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have found."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070905): "Researchers May Have Identified Culprit In Occupational Lung Disease"

""This population-based survey establishes the presence of BOS, or popcorn worker's lung, in chemical workers manufacturing a flavoring ingredient with exposures to diacetyl, acetoin and acetyldehyde. Any or all of these exposures may contribute to the risk of this emerging occupational disease.""

MedicalNewsToday.com (070901): "Study Some Kids Are Being Misdiagnosed With Asthma"

"A recent study performed at Columbus Children's Hospital found three out of four children who had good oxygen levels and appeared to have asthma actually had a condition known as vocal cord dysfunction - or VCD."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070901): "Term Chronic Systemic Inflammatory Syndrome Should Be Added To COPD"

"Skeletal muscle abnormalities are the most common comorbidities associated with COPD, as well as hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, cancer, lung infections and pulmonary vascular disease."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070828): "Asthma Levels Higher In 9/11 Rescue Workers"

"Workers involved in the September 11th 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery operations in New York have developed asthma at a much higher rate than would be expected in the population at large, a new survey from the city's Health Department reveals."

DiscoverMagazine.com (070821): "The Body Can Beat Terminal Cancer — Sometimes"

"They should be dead. But a tiny number of people conquer lethal diseases."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070819):  "Children Chronically Exposed To Air Pollution Suffer Long Term Lung Deficiencies"

"Children who are chronically exposed to higher levels of air pollution show marked deficiencies in lung growth and function, and not just short-term breathing problems, according to researchers in Mexico."

ScienceDaily.com (070727): "Air Pollution Linked To Clogged Arteries"

"That's the message of a new UCLA study linking diesel exhaust to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which significantly increases one's risk for heart attack and stroke. Published in the July 26 edition of the online journal Genome Biology, the findings are the first to explain how fine particles in air pollution conspire with artery-clogging fats to switch on the genes that cause blood vessel inflammation and lead to cardiovascular disease."

ScienceDaily.com (070705): "Reduced Lung Capacity Linked To Cardiovascular Disease By Inflammation"

"However, this study found an association between higher serum CRP and lower lung function in adults as young as 26 years, who the authors say are very unlikely to have developed either clinically significant atherosclerosis or COPD.

They say: "These findings indicate that the association between lower lung function and increased inflammation predates the development of either chronic lung disease or clinically significant atherosclerosis."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070702): "Exposure To Cats Increases Bronchial Responsiveness In People Without Specific Cat Allergy"

"Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that increased exposure to cat allergen is associated with greater bronchial responsiveness (BR) in people with certain common allergies, even if they are not specifically allergic to cats. This suggests that reduced exposure to cats may be beneficial for allergic individuals, regardless of their specific allergies."

MedicalNewsToday.com (070630): "Reduced Lung Capacity Linked To Cardiovascular Disease By Inflammation"

"They say: 'These findings indicate that the association between lower lung function and increased inflammation predates the development of either chronic lung disease or clinically significant atherosclerosis.

'Establishing whether systemic inflammation leads to reduced lung function or whether lower lung function leads to inflammation is difficult, but this research suggests that the association between poor lung function and cardiovascular disease may be mediated by an inflammatory mechanism.' "

MedicalNewsToday.com (070630): "New 'Allergic Rhinitis And Its Impact On Asthma' (ARIA) Guideline Urges Doctors To Make A Stronger Link Between Rhinitis And Asthma"

"ARIA chairman, Professor Jean Bousquet from Montpellier, France said: "People with rhinitis frequently develop asthma and people with asthma frequently develop rhinitis. In fact, it is possible to detect evidence of inflammation in the lungs of rhinitis patients even when they have no overt asthma symptoms. We therefore recommend that patients with persistent rhinitis should be evaluated for asthma and those with persistent asthma be assessed for rhinitis.""

ScienceDaily.com (070207): "Interfering With Vagal Nerve Activity In Mice Prevents Diabetes And Hypertension"

""I would argue that you can clearly produce a major impact by stimulating this nerve because it carries signals to so many organs," Semenkovich says. "We know the vagal pathway can influence seizures, depression and other disorders. This study suggests it affects diabetes and hypertension, too.""

MedicalNewsToday.com (061126): "Blame Myelin For Many Neuropsychiatric Disorders"

"Looking at such effects from a myelin-centric point of view, Bartzokis argues that cholinergic treatments may have nonsynaptic effects as well, perhaps by enhancing myelination and myelin repair -- and the better the myelin, the more efficient the neuron signaling and our "Internet's" function. Specifically, such cholinergic treatments may enhance oligodendrocytes, a type of glia cell in the brain that produces myelin during the brain 's development and constantly maintains and repairs it as we age."

MedicalNewsToday.com (060909): "Environmental Toxins May Cause Body's Defenses To Worsen Lung Disease"

""When tissue is exposed to a pathogen (disease-causing agent), the immune system immediately wants to destroy the damaged cells so healthy tissue can take over," explains Borchers, assistant research professor of environment health at UC and principal investigator for the study.

"But when the lungs experience chronic, low-level damage, we believe at some point that damage exceeds the body's natural ability to repair tissue," he adds. "And through the destruction of lung tissue, it may actually start contributing to chronic lung disease instead of protecting against it."

UC scientists say when this happens repeatedly--such as through environmental tobacco or workplace exposures--it may cause the immune system to attack the damaged tissue in the same way it would if the tissue were infected with bacteria or a virus."

ScienceDaily.com (060718):"Number Of Indoor Swimming Pools Per Capita Linked To Rise In Childhood Asthma"

"The prevalence of childhood asthma and wheeze rises around 2 to 3 per cent for every indoor swimming pool per 100,000 of the population across Europe, indicates research published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine."

Environment Science&Technology online (060607): "Plastics chemical alters female brains"

"A chemical that leaches out of plastics has been discovered to modify the developing brains of female mice, who later behave much more like their brethren. This latest study builds on a growing body of literature about the toxicity of bisphenol A (BPA) and raises questions about its effects in humans."

ScienceDaily.com (060522): "Air Pollution Increases Death Risk In People With Certain Diseases"

""While previous studies have found that long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with increased risk of death, we looked at risk of death in the first three years after patients were discharged from the hospital, and saw that the risk increased in the first couple of years. That means if we can lower air pollution levels, people will start living longer right away--we don't have to wait many years to see health improvements. That wasn't clear from previous air pollution studies.""

ScienceDaily.com (051230): "Researchers Show How Air Pollution Can Cause Heart Disease"

"To measure tension in the arteries, the researchers tested how the neurotransmitters serotonin and acetylcholine affected the aortic arches of PM2.5-exposed mice differently than those of controls. The arteries taken from exposed mice were less elastic than the control group, constricting more in the presence of serotonin and relaxing less in response to acetylcholine. Once again, the mice fed high-fat diets suffered the most pronounced effects from breathing polluted air."

ScienceDaily.com (050728): "Drug Used To Treat Parkinson's Disease May Be Beneficial In Treating Fibromyalgia"

"The mechanism of fibromyalgia, a chronic illness characterized by muscle pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, is unknown and medications used to treat it (such as antidepressants, antiepileptics, muscle relaxants, antiinflammatories, sedative hypnotics, pain relievers and nutriceuticals) have had limited success. New research findings indicate that the pain associated with this disease may be due to abnormal sensory processing in the central nervous system."

DiscoverMagazine.com (050605): "Discover Dialogue: Physician Nortin Hadler"

"To take just one example, Hadler is credited with leading a complete rethinking about the treatment of back pain, which he finds excessive. He wrote the editorial accompanying a landmark study in The Journal of the American Medical Association two years ago suggesting that the benefits of surgery for back pain are overrated. He has also taken on heart treatment, testifying before Congress and the Social Security Advisory Board and publishing papers arguing that very little data back up the value of modern treatments like bypass surgery and angioplasty. He took his case about cardiac care and other health issues to the public in The Last Well Person: How to Stay Well Despite the Health-Care System (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2004)."

MedicalNewsToday.com (050422): "Brain-mapping technique aids understanding of sleep, wakefulness"

"Some neurons in the basal forebrain produce the chemical acetylcholine. These cells are very active during wakefulness when an animal or human is aroused and attentive. Previous studies have shown that orexin neurons project to these cells, sending positive signals downstream to help keep them active. The new study, however, shows that these acetylcholine-producing neurons, or cholinergic cells, are upstream of the orexin neurons as well - the two send positive, reinforcing signals back and forth."

ScienceDaily.com (050226): "Inflammatory Molecules Released By Pollen Trigger Allergies"

"How do pollen particles provoke allergic reactions? A new study in the February 21 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine puts some of the blame on bioactive molecules that are released from pollen. These molecules bind to immune cells and cause them to launch a typical allergy-promoting immune response. Pollen from plants exposed to air pollutants produce more of these allergy-provoking compounds than do pollen from unpolluted areas, possibly explaining why allergies are more prevalent in places with high levels of car exhaust emissions."

NewScientist.com (040409): "Cellphones may boost forces on biological tissue"

"Sernelius's investigation is only theoretical, and adverse effects from cellphone radiation are unproven. But if the effect could be confirmed experimentally it could form the basis of an explanation for tissue damage: stronger attractive forces between cells might make them clump together, for example, or cause blood vessels to contract.

The finding is important, says Katie Daniel, deputy editor of the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, which has just published the study (vol 6, p 1363). "It highlights the idea that electromagnetic radiation might act on cells by affecting the attractive forces between them rather than simply causing heat damage to tissue.""

ScienceDaily.com (990820): "Genetic Variation In Sensitivity To Estrogen May Mask Endocrine Disruption"

""The use of laboratory animals that genetically are quite resistant to estrogen for the evaluation of possible reproductive effects of various chemicals might be misleading and may mask our appreciation of how global exposure to estrogen-like chemicals threatens wildlife, domestic animals and humans," said Spearow, a research geneticist in UC Davis' Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior Section."

ScienceDaily.com (990104): "Formaldehyde Emissions From Consumer Products"

"Low level exposure to formaldehyde can cause irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupation Safety and Health Administration. Long-term exposure, its says, may cause respiratory difficulty, eczema and hypersensitivity."

Tillbaka startsidan