Resveratrol, a compound present in grapes and red wine, reduces the number of fat cells and may one day be used to treat or prevent obesity, according to a new study. The results will be presented at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Past research found that resveratrol protected laboratory mice that were fed a high-calorie diet from the health problems of obesity, by mimicking the effects of calorie restriction. Researchers at the University of Ulm in Germany wanted to know if resveratrol could mimic the effects of calorie restriction in human fat cells by changing their size or function. The German team used a strain of human fat cell precursors, called preadipocytes. In the body, these cells develop into mature fat cells, according to the study's lead author, Pamela Fischer-Posovszky, PhD, a pediatric endocrinology research fellow in the university's Diabetes and Obesity Unit.
Many women experience menopausal changes in their body including hot flashes, moodiness and fatigue, but the changes they don't notice can be more dangerous. In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered significant changes in the brain's vascular system when the ovaries stop producing estrogen. MU scientists predict that currently used estrogen-based hormone therapies may complicate this process and may do more harm than good in postmenopausal women.
"Before menopause, women are much more protected from certain conditions such as heart disease and stroke, but these vascular changes might explain why women lose this protection after menopause," said Olga Glinskii, research assistant professor of medical pharmacology and physiology in MU's School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Because the body eventually will naturally adapt to the loss of estrogen, we advise extreme caution when using estrogen-based therapy in postmenopausal women."
Netherlands - A Dutch woman who was the oldest person in the world when she died at age 115 in 2005 appeared sharp right up to the end, joking that pickled herring was the secret to her longevity.
Scientists say that Henrikje van Andel-Schipper's mind was probably as good as it seemed: a post-mortem analysis of her brain revealed few signs of Alzheimer's or other diseases commonly associated with a decline in mental ability in old age.
That came as something of a surprise, said Gert Holstege, a professor at Groningen University, whose findings will be published in the August edition of
Neurobiology of Aging.
|
| ©Francois Wieringa / AP
|
| Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper was the world's oldest living person at the time of her death at age 115 in 2005. She is seen here the year before she died at de Westerkim, home for the elderly, in Hoogeveen, Netherlands.
|
Doping is not just the preserve of suspiciously muscular Tour de France cyclists and incredibly swift sprinters but also, it seems, earnest frock-coated musicians playing Brahms and Liszt on the world's best concert podiums.
"Between 25 and 30 per cent of musicians regularly take tablets or alcohol to combat performance anxiety," says Helmut Möller, head of Berlin's Kurt Singer Institute for Musical Health. Almost paralysed by stage fright, many musicians - and Professor Möller is not talking about Amy Winehouse or the usual suspects from the rock scene - guzzle beta-blockers, medication usually prescribed for heart problems.
Senator Edward Kennedy enjoyed Father's Day weekend surrounded by family at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., as he prepared to "do battle" as radiation and chemotherapy treatments for his brain cancer loom in the weeks ahead, his son, Representative Patrick Kennedy, said.
The Rhode Island congressman, speaking to the Associated Press, said that his father had been comforted by the company of friends and family in recent days, but that they were also aware he needed moments of quiet and breaks from entertaining as he fights a cancerous brain tumor.
Comment: The very warmest regards to Senator Kennedy and all his family for now and for the future.
According to autopsy reports, 4-year-old Rebecca Riley died from an overdose of psychiatric drugs. At age 2, Rebecca was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At 3, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression. By the time she died on Dec. 13, 2006, little Rebecca was taking Clonidine, as well as the anti-convulsant Depakote and the anti-psychotic Seroquel.
What were some of the symptoms that prompted such treatment plans? As her mother described it, Rebecca was "constantly getting into things, running around, not being able to settle down."
Damien Cave
NY TimesMon, 16 Jun 2008 08:50 UTC
MIAMI - From "Scarface" to "Miami Vice," Florida's drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.
An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
Powerful anti-psychotic drugs designed for adults are being used to treat children, including those with learning difficulties.
|
| ©REX
|
| Many drugs have not been proved safe for use on children
|
The number of powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to England's children has risen by more than half in four years, government figures have revealed.
GPs in England are handing out prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs for children
as young as seven at the rate of 250 a day, according to figures obtained by
The Independent on Sunday.
Portland, Oregon - With the never-ending rise of health care costs, comes a never-ending debate over how to pay for it.
In Oregon, voters will decide Measure 50 this fall, which raises tobacco taxes to pay for the Healthy Kids Program. And no matter how that measure is decided, it's clear that in Oregon, as elsewhere, the healthcare system as a whole is not well.
Taiwan has barred children aged under five from going to public play areas in a bid to contain the spread of a highly contagious virus that has killed seven so far this year, officials said Sunday.
Comment: The very warmest regards to Senator Kennedy and all his family for now and for the future.