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Researchers Find New Taste in Fruit Flies: Carbonated Water - August 29, 2007
8/30/2007
That fruit fly hovering over your kitchen counter may be attracted to more than the bananas that are going brown; it may also want a sip of your carbonated water. Fruit flies detect and are attracted to the taste of carbon dioxide dissolved in water, such as water found on rotting fruits containing yeast, concludes a study appearing in the August 30 issue of the journal Nature. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, who conducted the study, suggest that the ability to taste carbon dioxide may help a fruit fly scout for food that is nutritious over that which is too ripe and potentially toxic. The research is partly funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health.
National Asthma Guidelines Updated - August 29, 2007
8/30/2007
The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) today issued the first comprehensive update in a decade of clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. The guidelines emphasize the importance of asthma control and introduce new approaches for monitoring asthma.
New Report Indicates Changes in How Americans Get Their Information about Health and Cancer - August 29, 2007
8/30/2007
Among a growing number of Americans seeking general health information and information about cancer, the Internet remains a frequent first source, even though the public’s trust in online material about health has declined, reports a government study. At the same time, consumers voiced greater confidence in information received from healthcare professionals. The report, Cancer Communication: Health Information National Trends Survey 2003 and 2005, is based on data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a survey done every other year and sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Peer Review Advisory Committee Gains Eight New Members - August 28, 2007
8/29/2007
The Director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias Zerhouni, M.D., has appointed eight new members to the NIH Peer Review Advisory Committee. This committee provides technical and scientific advice on matters related to the procedures and policies governing the scientific and technical evaluation of NIH grant applications. Peer review is the key method NIH uses to ensure that the $20+ billion it invests in biomedical research grants each year advances the most promising research.
Free New Middle School Curriculum Supplement from NIH: 'The Science of Healthy Behaviors' - August 27, 2007
8/28/2007
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is releasing The Science of Healthy Behaviors, the newest in a popular series of curriculum supplements available for free to teachers (grades K-12) who request them. The Science of Healthy Behaviors, for use by middle school teachers, introduces students to the scientific study of behavior and helps them explore how behavioral and social factors influence health.
NIH Scientists Discover Novel Cause of Iron Overload in Thalassemia Disorders - August 26, 2007
8/28/2007
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered a novel cause of iron overload in patients with thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes anemia. According to the study, thalassemia patients overproduce a protein called GDF15, which suppresses the production of a liver protein, hepcidin, which in turn leads to an increase in the uptake of dietary iron in the gut. This finding has implications for iron metabolism in other diseases, including cancer, and may contribute to the future development of therapies for thalassemia. The study, led by researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the NIH, appears online August 26, 2007, as an Advanced Online Publication in the journal, Nature Medicine.
Study Sheds New Light on Intimate Lives of Older Americans - August 22, 2007
8/24/2007
A majority of older Americans are sexually active and view intimacy as an important part of life, despite a high rate of “bothersome” sexual problems, according to a new report in the Aug. 23, 2007, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The findings come from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings shed new light on the intimate social relationships and health of people ages 57 to 85, informing health care providers and patients about sexual norms in the older U.S. population.
Gene Triggers Obsessive Compulsive Disorder-Like Syndrome in Mice - August 22, 2007
8/23/2007
Using genetic engineering, researchers have created an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) — like set of behaviors in mice and reversed them with antidepressants and genetic targeting of a key brain circuit. The study, by National Institutes of Health (NIH) — funded researchers, suggests new strategies for treating the disorder.
NIDA News Scan #51 - August 22, 2007
8/23/2007
Common Gene Variant May Offer Protection Against Marijuana Dependence.
New Initiative to Study the Glycobiology of Cancer Could Aid Understanding of Cancer Risk and Detection - August 21, 2007
8/22/2007
The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is funding a new $15.5 million, five-year initiative to discover, develop, and clinically validate cancer biomarkers by targeting the carbohydrate (glycan) part of a molecule. Biomarkers are substances sometimes found in the blood, other body fluids, or tissues that measure biological processes, and in addition to genes and proteins, can be complex carbohydrate (sugar) structures that are attached to protein and lipid (fat) molecules.
NIEHS/NTP Management Review to Begin - August 20, 2007
8/21/2007
Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health, announced today that NIH will convene a panel of senior management experts to begin a comprehensive review of the management and leadership of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) to ensure that a series of issues that have been raised over the past few months are fully and independently evaluated and, as necessary, properly addressed.
NHGRI Funds Two Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science - August 20, 2007
8/21/2007
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced grants expected to total approximately $30 million to establish one, new Center of Excellence in Genomic Science at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and continue its support of the center at Stanford University.
New Vitamin D Evidence Report Reveals Gaps in Knowledge and serves as Basis for Upcoming NIH Conference on Vitamin D and Bone Health - August 17, 2007
8/21/2007
A new evidence report on vitamin D and bone health reviews the current scientific evidence and identifies its strengths and weaknesses. This report will be a valuable resource for an upcoming National Institutes of Health conference September 5-6 that will examine a range of scientific perspectives related to vitamin D and bone health across the lifecycle.
NCMHD Announces New Director for Extramural Activities and Scientific Programs - August 17, 2007
8/18/2007
Award-winning epidemiologist and academician Francisco Sy, M.D., Dr.P.H., has been appointed as the new director of Extramural Activities and Scientific Programs at the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
NIH Announces InCommon Interfederation - August 14, 2007
8/15/2007
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is pleased to announce a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for interfederation with the U.S. Higher Education’s InCommon Identity Management Federation (InCommon). With this partnership, users will now be able to leverage their existing accounts to gain access to approved NIH online systems and services like training, mentoring, and content resources.
Protein Plays an Important Role in Increased Skin Pigmentation That Can Help Protect Against Harmful UV Exposure - August 13, 2007
8/15/2007
Researchers have identified a protein that plays an important, early role in the increase of protective skin pigmentation after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The protein, called SOX9, is a transcription factor known to participate in embryo development and to be expressed in many adult tissues including the heart, kidney, and brain. Transcription factors control when and where genes (and hence the proteins encoded by those genes) are expressed. This study, led by investigators in the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, confirms the importance of SOX9 to adult skin cells and is the first to show that a protein in the SOX family can be regulated by UV radiation
Potential Therapeutic Targets Identified in Multiple Myeloma - August 13, 2007
8/14/2007
Research investigators have identified molecular changes in multiple myeloma cells that activate an important biological pathway associated with cell growth and survival, thereby revealing potential new targets for drugs to treat this cancer. The researchers, led by a team from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have shown that malignant cells in multiple myeloma frequently harbor mutations that activate what is called the NF-kappaB signaling pathway, which plays a key role in promoting cell growth and preventing programmed cell death. The results of this research appear in the August, 2007, issue of Cancer Cell.
NIDA’s Dr. Kenner C. Rice Receives Prestigious Smissman Award - August 13, 2007
8/13/2007
Dr. Kenner C. Rice — whose research has led to the development of compounds or medications that have the potential to treat or prevent drug addiction — has been selected to receive the 2007 Smissman Award presented by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Dr. Rice, chief of the Chemical Biology Research Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be recognized at the ACS national meeting in August.
NIH Scientists Target Future Pandemic Strains of H5N1 Avian Influenza - August 9, 2007
8/9/2007
Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine. Success hinges on anticipating and predicting the crucial mutations that would help the virus spread easily from person to person.
Lab on a Chip for Oral Cancer Shows Promise - August 8, 2007
8/8/2007
Finding out whether that unusual sore in your mouth is cancerous should become a lot faster and easier in the years ahead. Scientists supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, have engineered the first fully automated, all-in-one test, or lab on a chip, that can be programmed to probe cells brushed from the mouth for a common sign of oral cancer.
Children Who Complete Intensive Early Childhood Program Show Gains in Adulthood: Greater College Attendance, Lower Crime and Depression - August 7, 2007
8/7/2007
By the time they reached adulthood, graduates of an intensive early childhood education program for poor children showed higher educational attainment, lower rates of serious crime and incarceration, and lower rates of depressive symptoms than did non-participants in the program, reported researchers in a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Announces Effort to Promote Stroke Awareness in the Hispanic Community - August 7, 2007
8/7/2007
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced the launch of a new community education program, which broadens the Institute’s national stroke education campaign Know Stroke. Know the Signs. Act in Time. to promote stroke awareness among Hispanics in the United States.
Gene Predicts Better Outcome as Cortex Normalizes in Teens with ADHD - August 6, 2007
8/6/2007
Brain areas that control attention were thinnest in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/adhdmenu.cfm) who carried a particular version of a gene in a study by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Papers of Pioneering Molecular Biologist Sol Spiegelman Added to the National Library of Medicine’s Profiles in ScienceWebsite - August 6, 2007
8/6/2007
The National Library of Medicine, a constituent institute of the National Institutes of Health, announces the release of an extensive selection from the papers of Sol Spiegelman (1914-1983), a pioneering molecular biologist whose discoveries helped reveal the mechanisms of gene action and laid the foundations of recombinant DNA technology, on the Library's Profiles in Science website.
NIH Funds New Program to Investigate Causes and Treatment of Autism - August 2, 2007
8/2/2007
The National Institutes of Health will intensify its efforts to find the causes of autism and identify new treatments for the disorder, through a new research program.
New NIA Online Publication Features Health and Retirement Study - August 2, 2007
8/2/2007
A comprehensive new publication, Growing Older in America.
Progesterone Treatment Does Not Prevent Preterm Birth in Twin Pregnancy - August 1, 2007
8/2/2007
Progesterone therapy does not reduce the chances of preterm birth in women pregnant with twins, reported researchers in a network sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
Success or Failure of Antidepressant Citalopram Predicted by Gene Variation - August 1, 2007
8/2/2007
A variation in a gene called GRIK4 appears to make people with depression more likely to respond to the medication citalopram (Celexa) than are people without the variation, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, has found. The increased likelihood was small, but when people had both this variation and one in a different gene shown to have a similarly small effect in an earlier study, they were 23 percent more likely to respond to citalopram than were people with neither variation.
New Grants Bolster Efforts to Generate Faster and Cheaper Tools for DNA Sequencing - August 1, 2007
8/1/2007
Looking ahead to a future in which each person's genome can be sequenced as a routine part of medical research and health care, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today awarded more than $15 million in grants to support development of innovative technologies with the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of DNA sequencing.
NIDA's Scientific Journal to become Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice - August 1, 2007
8/1/2007
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health announced today that it is changing the name of its scientific journal Perspectives to the Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, beginning with the November issue. The new title is designed to better reflect the journal's committment to covering the exchange of ideas between researchers, clinicians, and others in the field of addiction science. NIDA will also increase the number of issues per year from once to twice a year, to accommodate the sizeable portfolio of scientific literature being produced in the growing field of drug abuse and addiction research. The peer-reviewed NIDA publication is the most widely distributed journal on addiction science.
New Age Page on Mourning Now Available - August 1, 2007
8/1/2007
Faced with the death of a spouse, many older people feel their entire world has changed. They may struggle with feelings of shock, sorrow, anger, fear, and occasionally guilt. Grief can make everyday activities like sleeping and eating difficult. To help older people cope with grief, the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has added Mourning the Death of a Spouse to its Age Page series of easy-to-read brochures on health topics and related concerns.