The December 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association contains articles and research studies you may find of interest. Below is a summary of some of this month’s articles.
Children with a form of bedwetting that does not respond to a common medication have more sodium and urea in their nighttime urine, possibly because of an imbalance of prostaglandin, a hormone-like substance, a new study has found.
Guanfacine, a medication commonly prescribed to alleviate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, is no more effective than a placebo, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
A new study analyzing the economic implications of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) concludes that the older (first generation) antipsychotic medication perphenazine was less expensive and no less effective than the newer (second generation) medications used in the trial during initial treatment, suggesting that older antipsychotics still have a role in treating schizophrenia.
A new study shows how psychological stress induces abnormalities in skin structure and function that could initiate or worsen skin disorders such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. The study provides a link for understanding the roles psychological stress and glucocorticoid, a type of steroid, play in skin disorders and shows that blocking glucocorticoid can prevent skin abnormalities induced by psychological stress.
Cell biologist Eva Lee of the University of California, Irvine, who led the research published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, reported that a pill that women can take to abort a fetus, has the ability to put a strangle hold on the gene primarily responsible for breast cancer. The drug is called RU-486, and when given to genetically developed mice who were destined to develop breast cancer, proved to halt the progression of the disease.
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center found that having complaints about memory problems is associated with changes in the brain related to Alzheimer’s disease. They reported their findings in the November 2006 issue of Neurology.
Two Iowa State University computer scientists are developing image-analysis software and related hardware that will measure the quality of colonoscopy procedures. Their goal is better procedures and better health for patients.
A protein called NMNAT protects against nerve cell degeneration in fruit flies and mice. The finding begs the question if a drug might be developed that could stimulate extra protein production and thus neuronal protection — both in injured cells and in those degenerating because of disease.
Anthrax, when inhaled, is nearly always fatal, in part because the bacteria have a very effective way of stealing iron from human cells to reproduce. This involves two molecules, siderophores, that compete with the body’s own iron-transport molecules. UC Berkeley researchers have now found that humans produce a protein that sidelines one of these siderophores, but not the other. A drug that blocks the second siderophore should be able to stop anthrax in its tracks.