Researchers at UNSW believe that blood may hold vital insights into what is happening in the brain of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
In a study unparalleled in its scope, a team led by UNSW Professor Andrew Lloyd of the Centre for Infection and Inflammation Research, has studied the differences in gene expression patterns in the blood of people who either recover promptly after acute glandular fever or develop the prolonged illness called post-infective syndrome.
The researchers examined six million pieces of gene expression information for analysis in the project, known as the Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study. The study is named after the NSW town in which the work was conducted. The team studied the expression of 30,000 genes in the blood, testing each of the 15 individuals between four and five times over a 12-month period.
The team was able to narrow its findings to the expression of just 35 genes whose pattern of expression correlated closely with the key symptoms of the illness when examined from onset through to recovery. Gene expression is significant because it is the process by which a gene's DNA sequence is converted into the proteins which ultimately determine the manifestations of disease.
Health & Wellness
Organic fruit and vegetables may be better for you than conventionally grown crops, US research suggests.
A ten-year study comparing organic tomatoes with standard produce found almost double the level of flavonoids - a type of antioxidant.
A ten-year study comparing organic tomatoes with standard produce found almost double the level of flavonoids - a type of antioxidant.
Comment: So let's get this straight - food that is saturated in toxic substances such as industrial chemical fertilizers and pesticides actually leads to... less nutritious food? What a good job we have the clever scientists to tell us these things.
Chinese children drinking well water with very high levels of fluoride scored poorly on intelligence testing compared to those with lower exposures.
This is one of the first studies in humans to find that too much fluoride is associated with low performance on intelligence tests. More information is needed to ascertain if the sum total amount of ingested fluoride from tap water, consumer products and other sources are enough to inhibit brain development in children living in the US and other countries where fluoridation is common.
This is one of the first studies in humans to find that too much fluoride is associated with low performance on intelligence tests. More information is needed to ascertain if the sum total amount of ingested fluoride from tap water, consumer products and other sources are enough to inhibit brain development in children living in the US and other countries where fluoridation is common.
Anybody who's tried to concentrate on work while suffering a headache knows that pain compellingly commands attention - which is how evolution helped ensure survival in a painful world. Now, researchers have pinpointed the brain region responsible for pain's ability to affect cognitive processing. They have found that this pain-related brain region is distinct from the one involved in cognitive processing interference due to a distracting memory task.
Ulrike Bingel and colleagues at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf published their discovery in the July 5, 2007 issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
To search for the region responsible for pain's ability to usurp attention, the researchers asked volunteers to perform a cognitive task involving distinguishing images, as well as a working memory task involving remembering images. The researchers asked the volunteers to perform the tasks as they experienced different levels of pain caused by the zapping of their hands by a harmless laser beam.
During these tests, the volunteers' brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In this widely used analytical technique, harmless magnetic fields and radio waves are used to scan the brain to determine blood flow across regions, which reflects brain activity.
Ulrike Bingel and colleagues at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf published their discovery in the July 5, 2007 issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
To search for the region responsible for pain's ability to usurp attention, the researchers asked volunteers to perform a cognitive task involving distinguishing images, as well as a working memory task involving remembering images. The researchers asked the volunteers to perform the tasks as they experienced different levels of pain caused by the zapping of their hands by a harmless laser beam.
During these tests, the volunteers' brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In this widely used analytical technique, harmless magnetic fields and radio waves are used to scan the brain to determine blood flow across regions, which reflects brain activity.
Eating apples while pregnant may give new meaning to an apple a day keeping the doctor away. Compelling new research has concluded that mothers who eat apples during pregnancy may protect their children from developing asthma later in life. The study was published in Thorax online.
This unique longitudinal study tracked dietary intake by nearly 2000 pregnant women, then examined the effects of the maternal diet on airway development in more than 1200 of their children five years later. Among a wide variety of foods consumed and recorded by the pregnant women, the researchers concluded that the children of mothers who ate apples had a significantly reduced risk for the development of asthma and childhood wheezing.
This study focuses on medical evaluations for asthma and related symptoms (i.e., wheezing) when the children were five years old. As a result of the evaluations cited in this research, other than apples, there were no consistent associations found between prenatal consumption of a range of healthful foods and asthma in the 1253 children who were evaluated.
This unique longitudinal study tracked dietary intake by nearly 2000 pregnant women, then examined the effects of the maternal diet on airway development in more than 1200 of their children five years later. Among a wide variety of foods consumed and recorded by the pregnant women, the researchers concluded that the children of mothers who ate apples had a significantly reduced risk for the development of asthma and childhood wheezing.
This study focuses on medical evaluations for asthma and related symptoms (i.e., wheezing) when the children were five years old. As a result of the evaluations cited in this research, other than apples, there were no consistent associations found between prenatal consumption of a range of healthful foods and asthma in the 1253 children who were evaluated.
A gene that is strongly associated with a risk of developing childhood onset asthma was identified by an international team of scientists, whose findings are published today in the journal Nature.
In a genetic study of more than 2,000 children, scientists from the University of Michigan and colleagues from London, France and Germany found genetic markers that dramatically increase a child's risk for asthma. These markers are located on chromosome 17, and children with this marker had higher levels of a new gene called ORMDL3 in their blood, which occurs in higher amounts in children with asthma. The presence of the disease-associated version of ORMDL3 increases the risk of asthma by 60-70 percent, the study suggests.
"In terms of an asthma gene, there have been quite a few reports but not one that can be clearly reproduced in samples," said Goncalo Abecasis, associate professor at the U-M School of Public Health. "I think eventually it will lead to new therapies because it points to a specific biological molecular pathway. Once we understand the biology and we know the players, it's possible to target with specific drugs."
Childhood asthma treatments are heavily focused on allergic responses, since most children with asthma also have many allergies. The discovery of a so-called 'asthma gene' would provide a new set of mechanisms to try and modify and manage childhood asthma, Abecasis said.
"Before we finished the paper, we would have guessed (ORMDL3) would be a gene with a well-understood role in allergic responses, but that is not what we found," said Abecasis, noting that the gene has no known relation to allergic responses.
Asthma, a complex disease caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, is the most common chronic disease of childhood. Asthma occurs in 7-10 percent of children in the United States and one child in seven in the United Kingdom. Its prevalence differs widely among different geographic areas.
In a genetic study of more than 2,000 children, scientists from the University of Michigan and colleagues from London, France and Germany found genetic markers that dramatically increase a child's risk for asthma. These markers are located on chromosome 17, and children with this marker had higher levels of a new gene called ORMDL3 in their blood, which occurs in higher amounts in children with asthma. The presence of the disease-associated version of ORMDL3 increases the risk of asthma by 60-70 percent, the study suggests.
"In terms of an asthma gene, there have been quite a few reports but not one that can be clearly reproduced in samples," said Goncalo Abecasis, associate professor at the U-M School of Public Health. "I think eventually it will lead to new therapies because it points to a specific biological molecular pathway. Once we understand the biology and we know the players, it's possible to target with specific drugs."
Childhood asthma treatments are heavily focused on allergic responses, since most children with asthma also have many allergies. The discovery of a so-called 'asthma gene' would provide a new set of mechanisms to try and modify and manage childhood asthma, Abecasis said.
"Before we finished the paper, we would have guessed (ORMDL3) would be a gene with a well-understood role in allergic responses, but that is not what we found," said Abecasis, noting that the gene has no known relation to allergic responses.
Asthma, a complex disease caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, is the most common chronic disease of childhood. Asthma occurs in 7-10 percent of children in the United States and one child in seven in the United Kingdom. Its prevalence differs widely among different geographic areas.
A doctor's administration of drugs hastened the deaths of two terminally ill babies and was "tantamount to euthanasia", an inquiry has heard.
Consultant neonatologist Michael Munro, 41, gave 23 times the normal dose of a muscle relaxant at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, medical watchdogs were told.
The General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise panel heard the doctor failed to record his actions.
Dr Munro denies his conduct was below standard, dishonest or inappropriate.
Dr Munro was working in the neonatal unit of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital on 5 December, 2005, when a child - known only as Baby X - was born more than three months premature.
The panel heard that the child suffered a brain haemorrhage and the decision was taken to withdraw treatment after its condition worsened.
Consultant neonatologist Michael Munro, 41, gave 23 times the normal dose of a muscle relaxant at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, medical watchdogs were told.
The General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise panel heard the doctor failed to record his actions.
Dr Munro denies his conduct was below standard, dishonest or inappropriate.
Dr Munro was working in the neonatal unit of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital on 5 December, 2005, when a child - known only as Baby X - was born more than three months premature.
The panel heard that the child suffered a brain haemorrhage and the decision was taken to withdraw treatment after its condition worsened.
Workaholics are fooling themselves if they think a weekend lie-in can make up for lost sleep.
The first hard evidence has emerged that we are unable to catch up on lost sleep if it happens night after night - increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease and depression, while cutting mental dexterity.
While our bodies try to catch up on occasional loss by making us sleep more and/or more deeply the following night, this mechanism breaks down when there is chronic deprivation, say researchers at Northwestern University, Illinois.
They report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that when rats are partially sleep deprived over consecutive days they no longer attempt to catch up, despite an accumulating sleep deficit. "The ability to compensate for lost sleep is itself lost, which is damaging both physically and mentally," said Prof Fred Turek.
Scientists estimate that in the 1960s people slept for more than eight hours. Now we are sleeping for about six. Symptoms of deprivation include weight gain, irritability, hallucinations and depression, said Prof Russell Foster, of Oxford University. It also impairs the ability of the brain to innovate.
The first hard evidence has emerged that we are unable to catch up on lost sleep if it happens night after night - increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease and depression, while cutting mental dexterity.
While our bodies try to catch up on occasional loss by making us sleep more and/or more deeply the following night, this mechanism breaks down when there is chronic deprivation, say researchers at Northwestern University, Illinois.
They report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that when rats are partially sleep deprived over consecutive days they no longer attempt to catch up, despite an accumulating sleep deficit. "The ability to compensate for lost sleep is itself lost, which is damaging both physically and mentally," said Prof Fred Turek.
Scientists estimate that in the 1960s people slept for more than eight hours. Now we are sleeping for about six. Symptoms of deprivation include weight gain, irritability, hallucinations and depression, said Prof Russell Foster, of Oxford University. It also impairs the ability of the brain to innovate.
Two years ago, Italian researchers at the prestigious Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences published a study that showed feeding rats aspartame at levels per body weight close to those of humans led to an increase in brain tumors, lymphomas and leukemia in the females.
Aspartame, familiar to consumers as brand names NutraSweet and Equal, is an artificial sweetener found globally in approximately 6,000 products.
Aspartame, familiar to consumers as brand names NutraSweet and Equal, is an artificial sweetener found globally in approximately 6,000 products.
Comment: Splenda is the newest in a long line of artificial sweetners. Here is some information on it. In short Splenda is chlorinated sugar. Umm Umm Good!
A seven-year-old girl could one day give birth to her biological half-brother or half-sister after her mother became the first woman to donate eggs to her infertile daughter.
Melanie Boivin, 35, from Montreal, has placed 21 of her eggs on ice for Flavie Boivin to use when she grows up.
Flavie has Turner syndrome, a condition in which one of the two X chromosomes normally carried by women is missing. It almost always causes infertility, though women who have the condition can conceive with donated eggs.
The mother-to-daughter donation is thought to be the first of its kind. Although many infertile women have been given eggs by their sisters, cousins, nieces and even daughters, biology has always prevented mothers from helping their daughters so far. Even if an infertile woman were just 20 years younger than her mother, the donor would likely be in her forties and have poor-quality eggs.
Melanie Boivin, 35, from Montreal, has placed 21 of her eggs on ice for Flavie Boivin to use when she grows up.
Flavie has Turner syndrome, a condition in which one of the two X chromosomes normally carried by women is missing. It almost always causes infertility, though women who have the condition can conceive with donated eggs.
The mother-to-daughter donation is thought to be the first of its kind. Although many infertile women have been given eggs by their sisters, cousins, nieces and even daughters, biology has always prevented mothers from helping their daughters so far. Even if an infertile woman were just 20 years younger than her mother, the donor would likely be in her forties and have poor-quality eggs.
Comment: For more information on Fluoride read:
Fluoride Accumulates in Pineal Gland