Breast cancer may be 'uniquely sensitive' to inhibitors of PI3K pathway
... of Molecular Therapeutics. This pathway, which is linked to critical growth factor receptors and is involved in programmed cell death, is aberrant at multiple levels in breast cancer, including mutations in PI3K itself or its many "downstream" players, such as PTEN, or AKT. "There is a lot of crosstalk b...Increased suicide rate is possibly linked to chemicals released from nearby asphalt plants
...ant. Carbon disulfide, also a neurotoxin, has been linked to personality changes, mood disorders and suicide...th scientific certainty that the area suicides are linked to hazardous chemical exposures, but we know enough to recommend that it is not worth taking any mor...Cedars-Sinai medical tipsheet for Dec. 2004
...cause the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been linked to many types of cancers, manipulation of the enzyme is considered an attractive anti-cancer strategy. Researchers now describe COX-2's harmful impact on key cells that result in the immune system's tolerance of deadly brain tumor cells. By blocking ...Scientists align billion-year-old protein with embryonic heart defects
...nclear whether subtle defects in SRF might also be linked to adult cardiovascular disease. However, the research provides a foundation for understanding how gene mutations may disrupt heart function, perhaps making some adults more susceptible to heart failure or irregular reactions to drugs. "One reason...Delayed hospice care can increase depression among survivors after death of a loved one
.... "We found that shorter hospice enrollment was linked to elevated depression among family caregivers, who are often the spouse or daughter of the deceased," said lead author Elizabeth Bradley, associate professor of public health at Yale School of Medicine. "The finding is particularly troublesome becau...Obesity in middle age may drastically raise future medicare expenditures
... Medicare data from 1984 to 2002 were linked with data from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry (which enrolled participants from 1967 to 1973) for approximately 9,980 men and about 7,620 women who were free of coronary heart disease, diabetes and major electrocardiograp...Newborns with heart defect have low blood flow in brain before surgery
...g of white matter in the brain. PVL has often been linked to neurological problems such as attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in infants without heart disease. More severe forms of PVL have been associated with cerebral palsy in infants who are born prematurely. A previous study by the same multidisci...Month of birth linked to risk of MS
In the northern hemisphere, being born in May is linked to an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis later in life, while being born in November carries the lowest risk, finds a new study published on bmj.com today. The researchers suspect that complex interactions between genes and the environ...NHLBI stops sickle cell anemia transfusion study
...city in one or more major arteries of the brain is linked with narrowing in key blood vessels supplying the brain, which in turn increases the risk of a stroke. STOP II participants had been transfused for at least 30 months before entering the trial. Eligibility criteria for entry into STOP II were a no...Low platelet counts linked to decreased survival in HIV-infected women
... normal platelet counts. Thrombocytopenia also was linked to a three-fold risk of dying due to AIDS. "Only a low CD4+ lymphocyte count, one under 200 cells per cubic millimeter, could compare in the strength of its link to mortality," says WIHS principal investigator Alexandra M. Levine, M.D., Distinguished...Two-fisted assault on dopamine transport system may be foundation of Parkinson's disease
...s study hows how an environmental toxin and a gene linked to Parkinson's disease affect the survival of dopamine neurons by dueling on a common molecular target -- microtubules -- that are critical for the survival of dopamine-producing neurons," said Jian Feng, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology and ...Employment reduces chronic drug use, UH professors find
... also showed that top predictors of drug abuse are linked to risk and protective factors and that prevention programs should be designed to enhance protective factors while reducing risks. According to NIDA, protective factors are those that may reduce the potential for drug use, such as strong bonds withi...Disoriented T cells cause liver disease
...n as primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the past. But the connection between the two disorders has been unclear, especially as the liver condition often develops years after IBD has resolved or the colon has been surgically removed. Eksteen and coll...New research shows stomach (gastric) cancer originates from bone marrow derived stem cells
...of many cancers particularly those that have been linked to chronic inflammation such as stomach, esophagus, lung, pancreas, liver, etc." A common assumption among cancer specialists is that most cancers originate from tissue stem cells for example, the gastric stem cells contained in the lining of the st...New treatments for infertility are unjustified
...eatments that have no scientific rationale and are linked with known risks to mother and fetus, warn researchers in this week's BMJ. Fertility clinics are increasingly offering women tests to measure the number and activity of natural killer (NK) cells circulating in their blood. These cells are found in t...Long-term obesity linked to loss of brain tissue in women
...cademy of Neurology. Loss of brain tissue has been linked to cognitive decline. Researchers in Sweden studie...kg/m2 and above. An overweight or obese BMI was linked to a loss of tissue specifically in the temporal lobe. Nearly 50 percent (144) of the women had temp...Breast conserving therapy safe for hereditary breast cancer
...he untreated breast. No clinical risk factors were linked to an increased risk of cancer. "Breast conserving treatment," conclude the authors, "is a reasonable option for [women with BRCA mutations], and the indications for unilateral mastectomy should be the same for both hereditary and non-hereditary brea...Imaging study finds a structural difference in the brains of cocaine addicts
...e called the amygdala, which previous research has linked to the brain's reward-processing system, is smaller in cocaine addicts than in healthy volunteers. While the current study cannot determine whether this difference is a cause of addiction or results from an early event in the course of drug use, the ...Short-term increase in ozone linked to rise in number of deaths in large US cities
...he article. "Short-term exposure to ozone has been linked to adverse health effects, including increased rates of hospital admissions and emergency department visits, exacerbations of chronic respiratory conditions (e.g., asthma), and decreased lung functioning." Information on an association between ozone...Infections in low-birth-weight infants are associated with impaired neurodevelopment and growth
...enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe intestinal disease linked to infection. Overall, 41 percent of the assessed infants had at least one adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Infants without infection were least likely to have adverse outcomes, while those with sepsis/NEC were most likely. Overall, 62 perc...