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February 2007 - Posts
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Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 “Spanish Flu,” for insight into pandemic planning. However, in a Journal of Infectious Diseases review article now posted online, David M. Morens, M.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, conclude that studies of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed some 50 to 100 million people around the globe, have so far raised more questions than they answer.
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The NLH Skin Disorders Specialist Library is holding its first National Knowledge Week on Acne Vulgaris from Monday 5th March until Friday 9th March 2007.
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This issue of NewsScan highlights NIDA-supported studies included in a special supplement to the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence that address the multifaceted issues of substance abuse and addiction within Hispanic populations.
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An independent panel of 15 scientists convened by the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR), of the NIEHS and National Toxicology Program, will review recent scientific data and reach conclusions regarding whether or not exposure to a commonly used chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA) is hazardous to human development or reproduction.
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Drug therapy can extend survival and improve movement in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), new research shows. The study, carried out at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), suggests that similar drugs might one day be useful for treating human SMA.
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Treatment with tamoxifen can reduce the risk of *** cancer in healthy women with an increased risk of the disease, and the benefits continue after stopping treatment, reported three newspapers (21 February 2007). The newspapers accurately summarized the main results of a large randomized trial whose findings appear generally reliable.
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Healthcare services will be safer for patients thanks to new proposals published in response to the fifth report of the Shipman Inquiry.
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The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today that it has achieved a major milestone. The entire genetic blueprints of more than 2,000 human and avian influenza viruses taken from samples around the world have been completed and the sequence data made available in a public database.
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The brains of alcohol-dependent individuals are affected not only by their own heavy drinking, but also by genetic or environmental factors associated with their parents’ drinking, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) — a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.
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Cocoa containing high levels of flavanols can increase blood flow to the brain, reported six newspapers (19 February 2007). The reports were based on results of research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference. The quality of the research cannot be assessed as full details have not yet been published.
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Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt has appointed seven new members to the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the Institute announced today. NIDDK is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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The largest search for autism genes to date, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has implicated components of the brain’s glutamate chemical messenger system and a previously overlooked site on chromosome 11.
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A gene-based test could help doctors choose the best treatment for women with *** cancer, reported three newspapers on 16 February 2007. The newspapers report few details from a generally well-conducted laboratory study comparing methods for establishing oestrogen receptor status and ERBB2 status of *** cancer.
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The Heart Truth Unveils First Ladies Red Dress Collection
Mrs. Laura Bush and six former First Ladies support The Heart Truth campaign’s effort
to raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women
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Switching from tamoxifen to the *** cancer drug exemestane after 2-3 years of tamoxifen treatment reduces the risk of death, reported six newspapers (13 February 2007). The newspapers were generally accurate in their reports of a large randomised controlled trial, the findings of which are likely to be reliable.
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In a finding that could have profound implications for AIDS vaccine design, researchers led by a team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have generated an atomic-level picture of a key portion of an HIV surface protein as it looks when bound to an infection-fighting antibody. Unlike much of the constantly mutating virus, this protein component is stable and — more importantly, say the researchers — appears vulnerable to attack from this specific antibody, known as b12, that can broadly neutralize HIV.
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All NHS staff are being encouraged to share letters with their patients so that individuals are more informed about their conditions and can make better decisions about their own healthcare.
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“Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction” was unveiled today by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. The 30-page full-color booklet explains in layman’s terms how science has revolutionized the understanding of drug addiction as a brain disease that affects behavior. NIDA hopes this new publication will help reduce stigma against addictive disorders.
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The results are from the second study published by the *** Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), which includes researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Most people inherit a version of a gene that optimizes their brain’s thinking circuitry, yet also appears to increase risk for schizophrenia*, a severe mental illness marked by impaired thinking, scientists at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have discovered.
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Conducted jointly by the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the trial is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes and thought to hold great promise at overcoming the infertility associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), is less useful for helping women with the condition achieve pregnancy than is the standard treatment with the infertility drug clomiphene, report researchers in an NIH research network.
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Current research funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health, will be featured at the 2007 Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO).
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At the 2007 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Nora D. Volkow will take part in a symposium featuring world-renowned neuroscientists presenting the recent advances in brain-imaging that have revolutionized our understanding of addiction as a chronic disease.
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The first draft of the horse genome sequence has been deposited in public databases and is freely available for use by biomedical and veterinary researchers around the globe, leaders of the international Horse Genome Sequencing Project announced today.
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Doctors have long wondered why, in some people, the immune system turns against parts of the body it is designed to protect, leading to autoimmune disease. Now, researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), in collaboration with the Oklahoma MedicalResearch Foundation, have provided some new clues into one likely factor: the early development of immune system cells called B cells.
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The National Library of Medicine, a part of the National Institutes of Health, announces the release of an extensive selection from the papers of Rosalind Franklin, a chemist and crystallographer who did ground breaking work in shedding light on the structure of DNA, on its Profiles in Science website at http://www.profiles.nlm.nih.gov.
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National Cancer Institute (NCI) scientists have discovered how human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which infects about 20 million people worldwide, evades being held in check by one of the body’s natural defense mechanisms.
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On February 7th, we commemorate the seventh annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day. This day of recognition reminds us of the devastation that HIV/AIDS continues to inflict on African American communities.
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Up to 800 older people's lives a year could be saved, and thousands more helped to remain independent, if health services follow a five point plan published in a new report by Professor Ian Philp, National Director for Older People.
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Fluctuations in sex hormone levels during women’s menstrual cycles affect the responsiveness of their brains’ reward circuitry, an imaging study at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has revealed.
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Scientists supported in part by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have found that that the commonly prescribed blood pressure medication losartan improves muscle regeneration and repair in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)
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The study, funded in part by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), showed that this intervention also allows family members to express their emotions and arrive at a more realistic expectation of the outcome.
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When the brain’s electrical signals were measured during mildly frustrating situations, researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), of the National Institutes of Health, found a very different pattern in children with SMD, compared with children who had BD.
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When the brain’s electrical signals were measured during mildly frustrating situations, researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), of the National Institutes of Health, found a very different pattern in children with SMD, compared with children who had BD.
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Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), confirmed in laboratory studies what a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center’s School of Medicine suspected after diagnosing three of his young male patients with prepubertal gynecomastia.
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Grant Information
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This Web site was made possible in part by NIH Grant Number R43 DK70418
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