India / Health & Beauty
Large Hadron Collider may discover new dimensions
04.09.2008 07:23
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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which goes into operation on September 10, might lead to the discovery of new dimensions. Located on the border of France and Switzerland, the LHC is the world’s largest particle accelerator complex. According to Professor Etzion, an experimental physicist in high-energy research, ”It is hard to grasp the dimensions of the practical benefits from this project, but we’re expecting to explore the basic forces that hold the world together.” If all goes according to plan, the superconducting magnets in the collider will zap atomic particles around the 17-mile tunnel at roughly the speed of light. Then, the scientists will smash the particles together; replicating what happened mere nanoseconds after the first big bang. While invisible particles are expected to leave a trace like a watermark after they collide, Professor Etzion believes that some particles will escape detection, possibly traveling to other dimensions. According to Etzion, this is an exotic theory, but one which may explain why the force of gravity appears to be so weak. “It could be that while all the matter we know is trapped in three space dimensions, a gravity carrier can move into additional dimensions, resulting in a diluted gravitational force”, he said, noting he and his colleagues will be looking for particles delivered by a force carrier called the “Z*” or “zee star.” The physicists hypothesize that the Z* may be able to move between our own three-dimensional world and other hidden dimensions. The notion of new dimensions is stranger than science fiction, though the possibility of their existence is quite real. Etzion believes that other dimensions may exist in parallel to ours, but that, until now, they were too small for us to experimentally detect. “For the first time we will reach a new energy scale in our lab, the Tera electron volt regime, and we expect to discover new phenomena there,” he said. “At such high energies, we may be able to stimulate particles to jump through dimensions and can measure this by the disappearance of mass or energy, or the appearance of new excited state towers of particles,” he added. Etzion’s research falls within a branch of theoretical physics known as string theory. The theory posits that all matter is made up of vibrating strings of energy, suggesting six or more dimensions we cannot see affect everything we do and see. The first high-energy collisions are expected to take place in October 2008. (ANI)
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Exercise can help mums beat the blues both during and after pregnancy
04.09.2008 07:23
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A regular exercise regime during pregnancy can not only help expecting mothers with their body image, but also protect them from depression, says a new study. The study has proposed that women who stay active and are more positive about their changing shapes might stay away from depression both during and after pregnancy. "Our study supports the psychological benefits of exercise to improve body image and lessen depressive symptoms," said lead study author Danielle Symons Downs, Ph.D., associate professor of kinesiology and obstetrics and gynaecology at Penn State University. For their study, the researchers surveyed 230 Pennsylvania women throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period about their symptoms of depression, exercise habits and feelings about weight, appearance and other aspects of body image. The results were found to be consistent with previous research indicating that women who experienced depressive symptoms early in pregnancy were likely to experience later pregnancy and postpartum depression. However, now they found that women who experienced higher levels of depression symptoms also reported less satisfaction with their appearance throughout the trimesters of pregnancy. "If someone is depressed and not very happy with how their body looks, especially with regard to the physical changes that occur during pregnancy, it can influence depression later on," said Downs. Women who reported more depressive symptoms during the first trimester were moiré inclined to engage in less exercise behaviour in early pregnancy. Also, women who exercised more prior to their pregnancy had greater body satisfaction during the second and third trimesters and less depressive symptoms in the second trimester. This, according to Downs, indicates that avid pre-pregnancy exercise might protect women from negative depressive symptoms and body dissatisfaction during mid-to-late pregnancy. "There is no question that pregnant women, in consultation with their health care providers, should try to maintain a regular and moderate exercise regimen," said Michael O''Hara, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Iowa. He advised that beginners should take it easy when exercising. Women could keep up with what they were doing beforehand physically, but they should not go all-out during pregnancy if they were sedentary before. The study appears in the latest issue of the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine. (ANI)
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Blood ''fingerprints'' can serve as biomarkers for cancer, diabetes
04.09.2008 07:23
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In a revolutionary discovery, scientists have found that Serum microRNAs (miRNAs) in the blood can act as efficient ''fingerprints'' for detecting diseases including cancer and diabetes, says a new research. miRNAs are a class of naturally occurring small non-coding RNAs that have been linked with cancer development. The finding can pave the way for an innovative non-invasive diagnostic tool. According to recent studies, individual miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers of specific cancers could not do away with the chances that these miRNAs appeared as a result of contamination. Chen-Yu Zhang and colleagues are the first to comprehensively characterize entire blood miRNA profiles of healthy subjects and patients with lung cancer, colorectal cancer and diabetes, ruling out contamination. They suggested that the specific serum miRNA expression profiles they identified make up for ‘fingerprints’ for cancer and disease. While tumour markers do improve diagnosis to a large extent, current diagnostic techniques are prohibitively invasive and thus have limited clinical application. The new approach is non-invasive and has the potential to transform the clinical management of various cancers and diseases through improving disease diagnosis, cancer classification, prognosis estimation, prediction of therapeutic efficacy, maintenance of surveillance following surgery, and the ability to forecast disease recurrence. The technique will also be useful to pharmacological companies in identifying population subgroups who are responsive to drugs that have failed in phase III clinical trials. The study is published online this week in Cell Research. (ANI)
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Gun owners ‘more likely to kill themselves’
04.09.2008 07:23
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Keeping a gun at your home may increase the chances for you to pull the trigger and commit suicide, say two doctors at the Harvard School of Public Health. Following the finding, doctors are asking lawmakers and psychologists to take a new look at the risks of firearms. Matthew Miller analysed four years of data in the US and discovered that the rate of suicides involving firearms in states with more gun owners was very high—up to four times higher for men and eight times higher for women. However, the numbers of suicides not involving firearms were found to be the same. This, according to Miller rules out the assumption that anyone serious enough to use a gun can easily resort to another equally effective means of suicide, in case he could not find a gun. He, in fact, insists that suicide is an impulsive action. "If people reach for a gun, they don''t get a second chance; if they reach for pills, they do,” New Scientist quoted Miller, as saying. Other smaller case studies have reported two- to 10-times greater risk of suicide in homes with a gun, not only for the owner, but also for the spouse and children. Just like, smoking and cancer, the gun’s effect increases with exposure. A gun kept unlocked and loaded is more likely to increase the risk than a secured gun. Co-author David Hemenway has asked for healthcare professionals to not only analyse the intent of patients, but also to restrict access to guns. "Change the environment so it''s hard for people to do stupid things, and people will do fewer stupid things," he said. According to Karen Norberg of the US National Bureau of Economics Research in St Louis, Missouri, other differences between gun owners and non-gun owners unrelated to firearms may also explain the differences in suicide rates. "The ideal experiment would be watching suicide rates in many different places that all changed their gun-control laws at the same time," she said. (ANI)
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Scientists produce ‘rosetta stone’ for understanding evolution
04.09.2008 07:22
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Molecular and evolutionary biologists from Yale University, in collaboration with Department of Energy scientists, have produced the full genome sequence of Trichoplax, one of nature’s most primitive multicellular organisms, which may serve as the ‘rosetta stone’ for understanding evolution of all higher animals. The findings show that while Trichoplax has one of the smallest nuclear genomes found in a multi-cellular creature, it contains signature sequences for gene regulation found in more complex animals and humans. Further, it defines Trichoplax as a branching point of animal evolution. “Trichoplax placozoans are animals that have only four body cell types and no structured organs. They represent descendents of the oldest multi-celled animal, perhaps older even than sponges,” said author Stephen Dellaporta, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale. This study shows that compared with the nuclear genome of humans that contains 3 billion base pairs, Trichoplax has only 98 million. Earlier sequencing work showed that the mitochondrial genome of Trichoplax is over twice the size of those found in most animals with genes, introns and spacer sequences like the most primitive organisms. However, size is not all that matters. DNA sequences that organisms share in common represents what was in their genomes at the time of their divergence. Unlike other model systems for studying evolution, including fruit flies and worms, even the arrangement of genes is conserved between the Trichoplax and human genomes. “Trichoplax shares over 80 percent of its genes with humans. We are exited to find that Trichoplax contains shared pathways and defined regulatory sequences that link these most primitive ancestors to higher animal species,” said Dellaporta. “The Trichoplax genome will serve as a type of “Rosetta Stone” for understanding the origins of animal-specific pathways,” he added. (ANI)
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Unique nano-droplets may revolutionise cancer therapy
04.09.2008 00:32
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Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) say that they have devised a way to make unique nanoscale droplets that can pave the way for a potential new cancer treatment. The researchers have revealed that their approach produces droplets that are much smaller than a human cell, and can be used to deliver pharmaceuticals. "What we found that was unexpected was within each oil droplet there was also a water droplet — a double emulsion. We have a water droplet inside of an oil droplet, in water," Nature magazine quoted Timothy Deming, professor and chair of the UCLA Department of Bioengineering and a member of both the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA and UCLA''s Jonsson Cancer Center, as saying. "The big challenge was to make these double-emulsion droplets in the sub-100-nanometer size range with these properties and have them be stable. We have demonstrated we can make these emulsions that are stable in this size range, which no one has ever been able to do before. These double nanoemulsions are generally hard to form and very unstable, but ours are very stable," Deming added. The researchers point out that emulsions are droplets of one liquid in another liquid, a major success because the two liquids do not mix. "This gives us a new tool, a new material, for drug delivery and anticancer applications," said Thomas G. Mason, a UCLA associate professor of chemistry and physics who has been leading research on nanoemulsions since he joined UCLA five years ago. In the study report explaining the implications of this research, Deming said: "If we have water-soluble drugs, we can load them inside. If we have water-insoluble drugs, we can load them inside as well. We can deliver them simultaneously." Mason added: "Here, you effectively combine both types of drug molecules in the same delivery package. This approach could be used for a combination therapy where you want to deliver two drugs simultaneously at a fixed ratio into the same location." According to the scientists, it might be possible to insert a pharmaceutical inside a droplet and inject the droplet inside a cell. The researchers are currently trying to determine whether such droplets can release their cargo inside a cell. "We''re working on it. There''s a pretty clear path on how to do that. There are still challenges for drug delivery, but we have demonstrated the key first step, that we can make these double emulsions that are stable in this size range," said Deming, who designs and engineers molecules. Pointing out that the cargo could be a protein toxin that helps to kill the cell, the researchers have revealed that one of the uses of their approach could be to involve an anticancer drug in the oil and a toxin-protein in the water — two molecules trying to kill the cell simultaneously. While a cell can develop resistance to a single drug, they believe that the combination approach can be more effective. Deming and Mason, however, insist that there are likely many years of research before cancer patients could be treated in such a manner. "We''ll have to do a lot of fine-tuning, but this approach has a lot of advantages. The size of these is a big advantage. We have discovered unique molecular features that can stabilize double emulsions. These are promising, but it''s early on, and there are many ways these can fail. But we should at least learn how to make better drug-delivery vehicles," Deming said. The researchers say that their future studies will determine whether the droplets can harmlessly enter cells and release their cargo. Apart from medical purposes, the researchers say that the nanodroplets produced through their method can also be used in cosmetics, soaps and shampoos. (ANI)
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Taller men more prone to prostate cancer risk
04.09.2008 00:32
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Your tallness might be giving you an edge over others, but the ‘leggy’ factor may put men at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer, according to British researchers. To reach the conclusion, the research team conducted their own study on the connection and also reviewed 58 published studies. In the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 12 researchers at four universities in England studied more than 9,000 men with and without prostate cancer and estimated that the risk of developing the disease rises by about six percent for every 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) in height a man is over the shortest group of men in the study. This means a man who is one foot taller than the shortest person in the study would have a 19 percent increased risk of developing the disease. Still, these increases in risk are a lot less than those linked with other established risk factors, such as age, family history of the disease, and race. Because of that, the researchers do not suggest that taller men be screened more often than is typical, or that their cancer treatment be altered. "Compared to other risk factors, the magnitude of the additional risk of being taller is small, and we do not believe that it should interfere with preventive or clinical decisions in managing prostate cancer," said the study''s lead author, Luisa Zuccolo, M.Sc., of the Department of Social Medicine at the University of Bristol. "But the insight arising from this research is of great scientific interest. Little is known on the causes of prostate cancer and this association with height has opened up a new line of scientific inquiry,” Luisa added. (ANI)
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Cholesterol drugs lower stroke risk in elderly, finds Indian researcher
04.09.2008 00:32
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Elderly people who have had a stroke or mini-stroke benefit from cholesterol-lowering drugs just as much as younger people in the same situation, according to a new research led by an Indian-origin scientist. The study has been published in the September 3, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Even though the majority of strokes and heart attacks occur in people who are 65 and older, studies have found that cholesterol-lowering drugs are not prescribed as often for older people as they are for younger people," said study author Seemant Chaturvedi, MD, of Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. "These results show that using these drugs is just as beneficial for people who are over 65 as they are for younger people,” Chaturvedi added. The research involved 4,731 people age 18 and older who had a recent stroke or transient ischemic attack, or mini-stroke. The 2,249 people age 65 and older were in one group, with an average age of 72, and the 2,482 people under age 65 made up the other group, with an average age of 54. Within each group, about half of the people received the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin and about half received a placebo. The participants were then followed for an average of four and a half years. LDL, or low-density lipoprotein "bad" cholesterol, was lowered by an average of 61 points during the study for the elderly group, and by 59 points for the younger group. Those in the younger group reduced their risk for another stroke by 26 percent; the risk was reduced by 10 percent in the elderly group. Chaturvedi said: "We tested to see whether age had any effect on how well the treatment worked, and we did not find any differences between young people and older people. "It''s estimated that 20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 or older by 2010, so it''s important that we identify ways to reduce the burden of strokes and other cerebrovascular diseases in this group. This is a step in that direction." (ANI)
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Loneliness hits both health and mental well-being
04.09.2008 00:32
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Loneliness not only disrupts abilities, will power and perseverance, but also key cellular processes deep within the human body, according to a new research. While it is well known that feeling connected to others is vital to mental health, as well as physical health, being isolated from others can result in obesity or addiction to smoking. The research, which has been reported in a new book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, suggests that chronic loneliness belongs among health risk factors such as smoking, obesity or lack of exercise, according to lead author John Cacioppo, the Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University. “Loneliness not only alters behavior, but loneliness is related to greater resistance to blood flow through your cardiovascular system,” Cacioppo said. “Loneliness leads to higher rises in morning levels of the stress hormone cortisol, altered gene expression in immune cells, poorer immune function, higher blood pressure and an increased level of depression,” he added. Loneliness also is related to difficulty getting a deep sleep and a faster progression of Alzheimer’s disease, said Cacioppo. He drew on recent research in preparing the book, written with William Patrick, the former science editor at Harvard University Press. The book has been published by W.W. Norton. One of the founders of a new discipline called social neuroscience, Cacioppo used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) brain scans and advanced scientific techniques to document the roles of loneliness and social connection as central regulatory mechanisms in human physiology and behavior. The authors traced the need for connection to its evolutionary roots. In order to survive, humans needed to bond to rear their children. In order to flourish, they needed to extend their altruistic and cooperative impulses beyond narrow self-interest and immediate kin. But in the environment of evolutionary adaptation, the only real safety was in numbers. Just as physical pain is a prompt to change behavior (such as moving a finger away from the fire), loneliness evolved as a prompt to action, signaling an ancestral need to repair the social bonds. Feelings of loneliness take a variety of forms, Cacioppo said. “There are three core dimensions to feeling lonely—intimate isolation, which comes from not having anyone in your life you feel affirms who you are; relational isolation, which comes from not having face-to-face contacts that are rewarding; and collective isolation, which comes from not feeling that you’re part of a group or collective beyond individual existence,” he said. It is not solitude or physical isolation itself, but rather the subjective sense of isolation that Cacioppo’s work shows to be so profoundly disruptive. Yet, outward circumstances such as moving to a new community or losing an intimate partner can trigger loneliness. (ANI)
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