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A hypertension vaccine could be an important alternative to conventional drug therapy because of patients’ inconsistent drug intake—if further research supports results from a small study testing the safety and tolerability of a vaccine. Despite the fact that effective drugs are available, only about one out of four people has their blood pressure successfully controlled, according to researchers at the University Hospital of the Canton of Vaud, in Lausanne, Switzerland, who presented a study on an experimental vaccine at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007. The vaccine targets angiotensin II, a molecule that constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. Angiotensin II is already the indirect target of several blood pressure medications. The researchers use non-infectious particles with a virus shape and chemically couple them with angiotensin II so the body begins to attack angiotensin II. The vaccine is being developed by Cytos Biotechnology AG in Zurich.

 

College students who drink alcohol mixed with so-called “energy” drinks are at dramatically higher risk for injury and other alcohol-related consequences, compared to students who drink alcohol without energy drinks, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The findings were reported at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Washington, D.C. The researchers conducted a web-based survey of 4,271 college students from 10 universities. Students were asked approximately 300 questions about alcohol use, its consequences, and other health risk behaviors. The researchers found that students who consumed alcohol mixed with energy drinks were twice as likely to be hurt or injured, twice as likely to require medical attention, and twice as likely to ride with an intoxicated driver, as were students who did not consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks. Students who drank alcohol mixed with energy drinks were more than twice as likely to take advantage of someone else sexually, and almost twice as likely to be taken advantage of sexually. Of students who reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, 24 percent said they consumed alcohol mixed with energy drinks.

 

There is a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the United States, and it has risen over the past decade, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study found that the overall prevalence of chronic kidney disease increased from 10 percent of the population during the period from 1988 to 1994 to 13 percent from 1999 to 2004. The researchers, in a study published in JAMA, report that the increase in chronic kidney disease is partly due to the rise in number of Americans with diabetes and hypertension and the aging of the population. Chronic kidney disease increases the risk for complications from medications cleared by the kidney and also increases the risk for hypertension, anemia, bone disease, death from cardiovascular disease, and ultimately kidney failure.

 

Scientists from P&G Beauty announced that they successfully sequenced the complete genome for Malassezia globosa (M. globosa), a naturally occurring fungus responsible for the onset of dandruff and other skin conditions in humans. Results of the genome sequencing were published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis affect more than 50 percent of the human population. Despite the role of Malassezia in these and other common skin diseases, including eczema, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, little was known about the fungus at the molecular level until this study. In addition, understanding of Malassezia’s genetic make-up may help scientists reevaluate the parameters that have historically been used to classify fungal organisms.

 

Very premature babies who were given caffeine to regulate their breathing have a significantly lower incidence of disabilities at the age of two years, according to an international study led by researchers at McMaster University. Researchers studied more than 2,000 premature babies who were either treated with caffeine or given a placebo. The latest results of this clinical trial, which appear in the New England Journal of Medicine, find babies receiving the caffeine were less likely to develop cerebral palsy and cognitive delay. Caffeine and similar drugs have been used for more than 30 years to make the breathing of very preterm babies more regular, but without sufficient knowledge of the possible benefits and risks. The ongoing study, with researchers in Canada, Australia, the United States, Europe, and Israel, will continue to follow the children until they reach the age of five.

 

Obesity is a well known risk factor for prostate, breast, and colon cancer, but recent studies have shown that a protein responsible for generating fat cells also plays an important role in cancer. Researchers at the Genome Institute of Singapore have conducted a genome-wide analysis of how the protein, called perixosome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARg), turns on various genes related to obesity. In findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Reserach Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine in Suntec, Singapore, the researchers said simply suppressing the protein entirely could prevent the generation of adipocytes—the precursors to fat cells—but it would decrease the protein’s beneficial properties. Instead, the researchers believe that by identifying the gene targets of PPARg, they could open up new targets for drug development against a number of diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

 

Curcumin, the yellowish component of turmeric that helps give curry its flavor, has long been noted for its potential anti-cancer properties, but researchers from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, report on two molecular analogues of curcumin that demonstrate even greater tumor-suppressing properties. The team presented their findings from the first test of these molecules at the American Association for Cancer Research Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine. Research has associated curcumin with several distinct actions, including the suppression of genes that promote cell growth and induction of programmed cell death in colorectal cancer. The problem is that curcumin loses its anti-cancer attributes when ingested. The researchers, who synthesized and tested 90 variations of the molecule’s structures in a mouse model of colorectal cancer, said two compounds proved up to 30 times more potent that curcumin and has superior bioavailability.

 

An international team of scientists announced the results of a systematic effort to map the genetic changes underlying lung cancer, the world’s leading cause of cancer deaths. The study, published in the journal Nature, provides a comprehensive view of the abnormal genetic landscape in lung cancer cells, revealing more than 50 genomic regions that are frequently gained or lost in human lung tumors. While one-third of these regions contain genes already known to play important roles in lung cancer, the majority harbor new genes yet to be discovered. Flowing from this work, the scientists uncovered a critical gene alteration—not previously linked to any form of cancer—that is implicated in a significant fraction of lung cancer cases, shedding light on the biological basis of the disease and a potential new target for therapy. Each year more than 1 million people die of the lung cancer, including more than 150,000 in the United States. New approaches to treatment rely on a deeper understanding of what goes wrong in cells to spur cancer growth.

 

A Swiss study suggests that teens who use cannabis but not tobacco appear to function better than those who also use tobacco. They are also more socially driven and have no more psychosocial problems than those who abstain from both substances, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Marijuana is the illegal drug most commonly used by youth, and is associated with the use of other substances, including tobacco and illegal drugs. Researchers at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, analyzed data from a 2002 national survey of more than 5,200 Swiss students aged 16 to 20 years. The survey also found that, compared with students who used both substances, students who smoked marijuana only were more likely to be male (71.6 percent vs. 59.7 percent), play sports (85.5 percent vs. 66.7 percent), live with both parents (78.2 vs. 68.3), and have good grades (77.5 vs. 66.6). However, they were less likely to have been drunk in the past 30 days (40.5 percent vs. 55 percent), have started using cannabis before the age of 15 years (25.9 percent vs. 37.5 percent), to have smoked marijuana more than once or twice during the previous 30 days (44 percent vs. 66 percent), or to use other illegal drugs (8.4 percent vs. 17.9 percent).

 

The known association between breast feeding and slightly higher IQ in children has been shown to relate to a particular gene in the babies, according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In two studies of breast-fed infants involving more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand, breastfeeding was found to raise intelligence an average of nearly 7 IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2. Researchers at Duke University's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, which conducted one of the studies, said that while there has been some criticism of earlier studies about breastfeeding and IQ, those studies didn't control for socioeconomic status, the mother's IQ, or other factors. They said that their findings take an end-run around those criticisms by showing the physiological mechanism that accounts for the difference. The other researchers from King’s College in London found intellectual development in babies is influenced by the interaction of their genes with their environment. They said that while the argument about intelligence has long been about nature versus nurture, what researchers are in fact finding is that nature and nurture work together.

 

The earlier in life children reach their lowest body mass index (BMI), the higher their potential of having heart disease risk factors, and those risk factors may become evident as early as age 7, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio studied “BMI rebound age” — the age at which BMI reaches its lowest point before increasing through later childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The study found earlier BMI rebound age was associated with adverse risk factors for heart disease as measured at age 7: higher BMI, higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures, higher serum insulin and leptin levels, higher left ventricular mass and left atrial size. The researchers said that these problems of overweight and cardiac risk factors begin at an early age, not just in teenage or adult years.

 

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have identified a molecule that may be more accurate than existing biological signposts used to predict which breast cancers will develop into advanced forms of the disease. When diagnosing breast cancer, pathologists currently look for elevated levels of three standard molecules known to make tumors grow in the breast. These molecules—estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2—are used as “biomarkers” for diagnosis and individually detect only a fraction of breast cancers. The researchers have found a molecule, osteopontin-c, that is absent from the normal breast and appears to more accurately predict breast cancer that will become metastatic and spread to distant organs from the original tumor site. The discovery, published in an online edition of the International Journal of Cancer, could one day influence therapy decisions and prevent patients from unnecessarily undergoing aggressive cancer treatments.

 

Some people with rheumatoid arthritis have a higher risk for developing heart disease than the general population, but it is difficult to identify which patients are at increased risk. Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed a simple approach to predict heart disease in these patients within ten years of their initial diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers, who presented their findings at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston, discovered that 85 percent of those 60- to 69- year-olds who were newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis patients had a one in five chance of developing a serious cardiovascular event, compared to only 40 percent of patients who did not have rheumatoid arthritis. In each age group, cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis patients was similar to that of non-rheumatoid arthritis subjects who were 5 to 10 years older.

 

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report that older adults today are much more likely to suffer from disability than those 10 years ago. This research, published in the JAMA, reveals that obesity, which has become more common among older Americans, is having an increasingly profound impact on their day-to-day activities and overall health. By comparing health data from 1988-1994 to data from 1999-2004, the researchers found that the odds of suffering from functional impairment have increased 43 percent among obese adults age 60 years and older. This means they are less able to do things like walk a quarter of a mile, climb 10 steps, pick up a 10-pound weight, and bend over. The researchers—the first to track effects of obesity on disability over time—said people are potentially living longer with their obesity due to improved medical care, and that they are becoming obese at younger ages than in the past. In both instances, the researchers said people are living with obesity for longer periods of time, which increases the potential for disability.

 

Foregoing food for a day each month stood out among other religious practices in members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who have lower rates of heart disease than other Americans, according to research reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007. Members of the church in the 1970 were recognized by scientists as being less likely to die of heart disease than other residents of Utah and Americans overall. Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City said while the religious prohibition against tobacco use is usually credited for the lower rates of heart disease, they wanted to see if other religious teaching were important. In a study of Utah residents they found fasting was the strongest predictor of lower heart disease risk in the people surveyed. About 8 percent of the subjects who fasted did not express a Latter-Day Saints religious preference, and they also had less coronary disease. The researchers said their study doesn’t prove that fasting is the cause of having healthier arteries, but it does suggest that it is an important, and new, hypothesis.

 

Downing an “energy drink” may boost blood pressure as well as energy, according to research from a small study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007. In the study, conducted by Wayne State University researchers, blood pressure and heart rate levels increased in healthy adults who drank two cans a day of a popular energy drink. Within four hours of energy drink consumption, maximum systolic blood pressure increased by 7.9 percent on day one and 9.6 percent on day seven. Diastolic blood pressure increased by 7 percent on day one and 7.8 percent on day seven within two hours of consumption. Heart rate increased by 7.8 percent on day one and 11 percent on day seven. While the increases didn’t reach dangerous levels in the healthy volunteers, the increases in blood pressure and heart rate could prove to be clinically significant in patients with heart disease or in those who consume energy drinks often, the researchers said.

 

A consistently high level of physical activity from young adulthood into middle age increases the odds of maintaining a stable weight and lessens the amount of weight gained over time, according to a new analysis from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. In a presentation at the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida, researchers said that people who reported at least 30 minutes of vigorous activity a day, such as jogging, bicycling, or swimming, were more than twice as likely to maintain a stable Body Mass Index (BMI) over 20 years. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. But even highly active people who gained weight, gained 14 pounds less over 20 years than those with consistently low activity. 

 

Young people with asthma are about twice as likely to suffer from depressive and anxiety disorders than are children without asthma, according to a study by a research team in Seattle. Previous research had suggested a possible link in young people between asthma and some mental health problems, such as panic disorder, but this study is the first showing a strong connection between the respiratory condition and depressive and anxiety disorders. The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, was conducted by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Group Health Cooperative, and Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute. The researchers interviewed more than 1,300 youths, ages 11 to 17. About 16 percent of the young people with asthma had depressive or anxiety disorders, the researchers found, compared to about 9 percent of youth without asthma. When controlling for other possible variables, youth with asthma were about 1.9 times as likely to have such depressive or anxiety disorders.

 

Research has shown convincing evidence that dietary patterns practiced during adulthood are important contributors to age-related cognitive decline and dementia risk, according to an article published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto, highlights the benefits of diets high in fruit, vegetables, cereals, and fish and low in saturated fats in reducing dementia risk. Adults with diabetes are especially sensitive to the foods they eat with respect to cognitive function. Specifically, an adult with diabetes will experience a decline in memory function after a meal, especially if simple carbohydrate foods are consumed. While the precise physiological mechanisms underlying these dietary influences are not completely understood, the modulation of brain insulin levels likely contributes. The findings suggest that weight maintenance reduces the risk of developing obesity-associated disorders, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and is an important component of preserving cognitive health.

 

Mice that don’t produce lubricin, a thin film of protein found in the cartilage of joints, showed early wear and higher friction in their joints, a new study led by Brown University researchers shows. This link between increased friction and early wear in joints is a first. The finding, published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, sheds important light on how joints work. The discovery also suggests that lubricin, or a close cousin, could be injected directly into hips, knees, or other joints inflamed from arthritis or injury—a preventive treatment that could reduce the need for painful and costly joint replacement surgery. The researchers hope to develop a treatment that prevents wear on joints. Through Rhode Island Hospital, the lead researcher has filed two patents on the protein and its sequences and, in 2004, helped form Tribologics. The Massachusetts-based company is developing an injection treatment for inflamed joints that contains lubricin.

 

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University suggests that timelines for vaccinating and revaccinating Americans against disease should be reevaluated and possibly lengthened. The study shows that in many cases, the established duration of protective immunity for many vaccines is greatly underestimated. This means that people are getting booster shots when their immunity levels most likely do not require it. The researchers found that immunity following vaccination with tetanus and diphtheria was much more long-lived than anyone realized and that antibody responses following viral infections were essentially maintained for life. The researchers said that over-vaccinating the population poses no health or safety concerns, but that it may just be unnecessary under certain circumstances.

 

America’s tweens more than doubled their use of Type 2 diabetes medications between 2002 and 2005, with girls between 10 and 14 years of age showing a 166 percent increase. Researchers said the likely cause for the increase was tied to increasing obesity. The finding is included in a study of chronic medication use in children aged 5 to 19. It was reported at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association by researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and School of Public Health and pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts. In addition to diabetes, utilization patterns for blood pressure, cholesterol, asthma, and depression medications were also examined. The researchers found that use by children was up in every chronic medication class they examined.

 

Heart experts at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere have evidence that at least 522 lives can be saved annually in the United States and Canada by the widespread placement of automated external defibrillators, the paddle-fitted, electrical devices used to shock and revive people whose hearts have suddenly stopped beating. Their latest findings support broad deployment of battery-powered defibrillators, known as AEDs for short, in public spaces where large gatherings occur, such as senior care facilities, hospitals, sports stadiums, community centers, shopping malls, airports, and the lobbies of large hotels and office buildings. The study, presented at the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida, are among the first conclusions to emerge from a landmark series of studies, known as the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, designed to reveal the best life-saving techniques for cardiac emergencies. Every year, experts say, more than 300,000 Americans of all ages die from sudden cardiac death.

 

Mexico’s new health insurance program, which was created to extend health insurance to the nation’s 50 million uninsured by 2010, is having a positive effect on coverage of antihypertensive treatment in that country, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Results of the study show that adults insured through the program are significantly more likely to receive treatment for hypertension and significantly more likely to have their blood pressure controlled than those without health insurance. Mexico is among the last of the OECD countries to guarantee health insurance for all of its citizens. The study found that the odds of receiving antihypertensive treatment were 50 percent higher for those insured through the program than those without insurance. It also showed that those insured through the program had a 35 percent greater chance of receiving treatment with blood pressure control compared to the uninsured.