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Brain Abnormality's Connection With Schizophrenia Confirmed SYDNEY: Using some of the world's most sophisticated screening technology, researchers in Australia have identified 153 genes associated with schizophrenia, confirming the evidence that the devastating brain disease resulted from abnormality in the brain. Brian Dean Associate Professor at the Mental Health Research Institute, studied post-mortem brain tissue from people with schizophrenia. Based on levels of proteins and a substance known as mRNA, researchers identified 153 potential schizophrenia genes out of a total of 12,000 screened. He said the findings had important implications for the future treatment of schizophrenia with drugs that did not have the unwanted side-effects of some of the existing anti-psychotics. However, Professor Dean said the number of genes identified was still relatively small, suggesting that only a slight genetic abnormality was needed to tip the scale towards schizophrenia. "The implication is that it doesn't take huge genetic abnormality to cause the disease," the professor added. Schizophrenia is already known to have a strong genetic component.
Members of the general population have a one per cent chance of developing
the mental illness, but the risk increases almost fifty-fold if a twin
has it. Professor Dean said the next challenge involved assessing each
of the 153 genes identified to pinpoint the most important ones in the
development of schizophrenia. Drink Concord Grape Juice and Say Bye to Heart Disease (Go To Top) WASHINGTON: A new study has found that drinking concord grape juice slowed the oxidation of LDL in the body, which, according to researchers, may reduce the likelihood of heart disease, according to a report in Nutrition. Concorde grape juice is a potent anti-oxidant that compares favourably to supplements flavonoids found in fruits, vegetables, chocolate tea and wine. It can reduce oxidative stress. "We know that high levels of LDL cholesterol in the body contribute to heart disease," explains Ishwarlal Jialal, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology and Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis. "What is also important to understand is that the LDL is relatively harmless unless it oxidizes within the arterial wall. So on one hand, we should strive to maintain healthy LDL levels in the body. At the same time, taking steps to impede the oxidation of LDL is a complementary pathway to cardiovascular health."
As LDL cholesterol (the so-called "bad" cholesterol) circulates in the
blood stream, it will occasionally penetrate the lining of the artery
and occupy space within the arterial wall. In normal circumstances,
it returns to the blood stream and continues to circulate. However,
there is growing evidence that when the LDL oxidizes while in the arterial
wall, it can initiate a cascade of events that lead to atherosclerosis
and, eventually, arterial blockage that can lead to a heart attack or
stroke. The more resistant the LDL is to oxidation - as in this study
with people drinking Concord grape juice - the less likely the LDL is
to contribute to this process. Genital Herpes Vaccine in the Ofing (Go To Top) WASHINGTON: Researchers in the United States have developed a vaccine for genital herpes, an incurable disease that affects the genitals and is transmitted through sexual intercourse. Early clinical trials in the United States have found the vaccine can prevent infection in three out of four women. However, it does not work in men. Glaxo SmithKline, which developed the vaccine, is now planning further trials. If successful, it could be available within a few years, according to a BBC report. An estimated 100 million people around the world are infected with what is known as herpes simplex virus type 2. The virus can cause painful itching and sores that in some cases reappear years after infection. However, many people do not have symptoms and can therefore pass on the infection without knowing it.
A vaccine could be of real benefit to the thousands of infants born
every year with the virus. Genital herpes can be passed on from mother
to child. However, half of those infants who contract the virus die
unless they receive powerful anti-viral drugs. Post-menopausal Women Too Can Have Babies: Study (Go To Top) WASHINGTON: Age is no bar for women wanting to have babies. In fact, even post-menopausal women can become mothers using eggs donated by younger women, according to a US study. Researchers followed the progress of 77 post-menopausal women undergoing IVF treatment using donated eggs at the University of Southern California. The women - aged between 50 and 63 - had a similar pregnancy rate as younger mothers. But
they were more likely to suffer complications such as high blood pressure
or need Caesarean sections. The researchers, led by Dr Richard Paulson,
say there is no medical reason why women in their 50s should not have
fertility treatment. Premature Babies Less Intelligent (Go To Top) WASHINGTON: A new study has found that premature babies are less intelligent than infants born at full-term. The gap continues throughout life, according to a research report in the journal, Developmental Psychology. The study backs up previous findings suggesting that on an average babies born before nine months are less intelligent. Dr Susan Rose and colleagues at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York studied 153 full-term and 59 pre-term infants at five months and seven months. The pre-term infants had all been born weighing less than four pounds. For the study, the infants were presented with a series of pictures of paired faces, one that remained the same across the trials and one that changed. The trials continued until an infant showed a consistent preference for the new faces. It was found that as early as five months of age, pre-terms were significantly slower at processing the paired faces than full-terms. Pre-terms took about 20 per cent more trials and 30 per cent more time than full-terms to study the paired faces and reliably recognize the new faces. The
differences were similar at all three ages and there was no evidence
that the gap narrowed with age or that the pre-terms caught up. Autistic Children Have Abnormally Large Brains: Research (Go To Top) SYDNEY: Autistic children have abnormally fast brain growth that begins a few months after birth, according to a new research that offers the first hope for early detection of the disorder. The causes of autism have so far been unknown, but US specialist Eric Courchesne has discovered that by the time an autistic child is about four, the size of their brain is equal to that of a normal 12-year-old. While the trigger for this growth remains unknown, the discovery means that the size of a baby's skull could be an early warning sign of autism, Professor Courchesne said. Using magnetic resonance imaging, Courchesne and his team found excessive brain growth in autistic children. After examining the medical records, they found that children who later become autistic have normal brain size at birth. However, at between four and 12 months, the brain grows too quickly, resulting in an abnormally large brain. "Some
time shortly after birth something is going terribly wrong and causing
the brain to grow especially rapidly", Courchesne was quoted by the
News as saying. "By the time an autistic child is about 12 months, their
brain is about as large as a normal two or three-year old. By the time
they're two or three, their brain has reached maximum size - a size
that is typically reached by normally developed children six to eight
years later". Alternative to Bypass Surgery in the Offing (Go To Top) LONDON: British researchers claim to be very close to finding an alternative to coronary artery bypass grafts. This means that in the near future, heart patients will not necessarily have to undergo bypass surgery because they will be able to "grow their own arteries." Scientists from the University of Birmingham are looking at how blood vessels form. Their main focus is on a key protein, called VEGF, which could be responsible for the formation of networks of vessels, and a particular receptor for the protein called VEGF R-1. Until now, it was believed that that the receptor did not do anything to help in the formation of blood vessels. But the Birmingham team proved that when it is activated, it leads to the release of nitric oxide molecules which promote blood vessel networks to form. When experiments using endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, were conducted, it was found that when VEGF R1 is blocked from working as it should, blood vessels do not form. "This
could alleviate the need for surgery. You could grow a whole artery.
We have already done it in a Petri dish. We have agents that will activate
VEGF R-1. I don't think using that as a treatment is that far away,"
Professor Asif Ahmed, one of the researchers, told BBC News Online.
Consumption of Garlic, Onion Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk (Go To Top) LONDON: A new study has revealed that garlic and onions may reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer in men, according to a report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. A scientist from the US National Cancer Institute said this could be due to allium, a sulphur-based compound, which is responsible for the characteristic smell.
The researchers, led by Ann Hsing, said their findings provided additional
evidence that a good diet could reduce the risk of cancer. They said
in a statement, "Several case-control studies, in which the diets of
cancer patients are compared to the diets of healthy individuals, have
linked allium vegetables to lower risk for cancer of the stomach, colon,
oesophagus, breast and lining of the uterus." More Americans Clutching at Anti-depressants (Go To Top) WASHINGTON: Now that some of the stigma of mental illness has been stripped away, more Americans than ever before are reaching out for help with depression. But the form that treatment takes is a matter of increasing debate in health-care circles. The argument continues: Are antid-epressants being over-prescribed or under-prescribed for those struggling with depression? The answer isn't as simple as you may think. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Columbia University psychiatrist Dr Mark Olfson and his colleagues examined national trends in the out-patient treatment of depression between 1987 and 1997. Olfson found the percentage of Americans being treated for depression more than doubled during the 10-year period. And the total number of people receiving treatment rose from 1.7 million to 6.3 million. The researchers also found that patients were almost five times more likely to be treated with anti-depressants than they were in 1987. A number of factors account for the dramatic rise in the use of anti-depressants. Proponents say they are the fastest, most reliable method of delivering much-needed relief to victims of a debilitating disease. And
the newer generations of anti-depressants - called selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors and marketed under such brand names as Prozac, Zoloft
and Paxil - produce less troublesome side-effects than older medications.
Further fueling the rise in the use of anti-depressants: The proportion
of pharmacy costs borne by health insurers increased over the 10-year
period of Olfson's study, reducing out-of-pocket costs for consumers.
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