Health News, Medical Research Developments, Uptodate health breakthroughs

Physician's Weight May Influence Obesity Diagnosis and Care
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Summary: A patient's body mass index (BMI) may not be the only factor at play when a physician diagnoses a patient as obese. According to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the diagnosis could also depend on the weight of your physician. Researchers examined the impact of physician BMI on obesity care and found that physicians with a normal BMI, as compared to overweight and obese physicians, were more likely to engage their obese patients in weight loss discussions (30 percent vs. 18 percent) and more likely to diagnose a patient as obese if they perceived the patient's BMI met or exceed their own (93 percent vs. 7 percent). Using a national cross-sectional survey of 500 primary care physicians, Bleich and colleagues from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine assessed the impact of physician BMI on obesity care, physician self-efficacy, perceptions of role modeling and perceptions of patient trust in weight loss advice.

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New Lung Cancer Test Predicts Survival (Clinical Studies in U.S. and China Show Molecular Test Could More Accurately Guide Treatment for People with Lung Cancer)
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
University of California, San Francisco

Summary: In the two largest clinical studies ever conducted on the molecular genetics of lung cancer, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has demonstrated that an available molecular test can predict the likelihood of death from early-stage lung cancer more accurately than conventional methods. The two independent clinical trials included one blinded study involving the analysis of tissue samples from 433 people with early-stage lung cancer in northern California and another study involving 1,006 people with early-stage lung cancer in China. Today, doctors assess early-stage lung cancers by their size, location and microscopic appearance. Evidence from other studies suggests that chemotherapy given in early-stage lung cancer helps thwart recurrence when there is evidence of lymph node involvement. Problems with Lung Cancer Prognosis: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in both the United States and the world. Even people who have their cancer detected at the earliest stages, however, face serious odds. Unlike other types of cancer, where early diagnosis has significant survival advantages, some 35 to 45 percent of people with stage I lung cancer die within five years of recurrent disease, despite successful surgery.

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New Research Sheds Light on Gene Destruction Linked to Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
Queen's University

Summary: Researchers at Queen's University have identified a possible cause for the loss of a tumour suppressor gene (known as PTEN) that can lead to the development of more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. PTEN is one of a small class of tumor suppressor genes that closely regulates the growth of cells. Cells can then grow uncontrolled and can develop into a prostate cancer. Researchers discovered the gene using a novel gene-detection technology developed by Dr. Squire and his laboratory. The technology significantly improves on current methods for identifying PTEN loss and has the potential to lead to better treatment of prostate cancer patients. CymoGen DX invented the labeling system.

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Mayo Clinic Finds Mild Cognitive Impairment is Common, Affects Men Most
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
Mayo Clinic

Summary: Researchers involved in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging reported today that more than 6 percent of Americans age 70 to 89 develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) every year. The study, "The Incidence of MCI Differs by Subtype and is Higher in Men," which was published in the Jan. 25, 2012, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, reports that 296 of the 1,450 study participants developed MCI, an incidence rate of 6.4 percent per year overall. Among men, the incidence rate was 7.2 percent, compared with 5.7 percent per year for women. The study also looked in more detail at patients with MCI, dividing them according to whether they developed amnestic MCI (aMCI) — in which the condition affects the memory domain — or non-amnestic MCI (naMCI).

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Tracking the Birth of an Evolutionary Arms Race Between HIV-like Viruses and Primate Genomes
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Summary: Using a combination of evolutionary biology and virology, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have traced the birth of the ability of some HIV-related viruses to defeat a newly discovered cellular-defense system in primates. In response, some viruses related to HIV-1, such as HIV-2 and some simian immunodeficiency viruses that infect other primates, produce a protein called Vpx that binds to SAMHD1 and targets it for destruction. HIV-1, however, does not encode Vpx, but it does encode a related protein called Vpr. When the phylogenetic history, or evolutionary relatedness, between these two viral proteins was mapped on top of their functions, the researchers found that SAMHD1-degrading ability was acquired first by the Vpr protein before the Vpx protein was even "born." "This means that the ability of lentiviruses to degrade primate SAMHD1 is a newly acquired trait," Emerman said. The researchers also found that Vpr/Vpx proteins have highly species-specific abilities to degrade primate SAMHD1. Thus, while a lentivirus can degrade SAMHD1 within a single primate species, it cannot bind and degrade the SAMHD1 protein from a more distantly related species.

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Protein Discovery Could Lead to New HIV Drugs
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
A team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health re......continue reading
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Women with Faulty BRCA Genes More Likely to Survive Ovarian Cancer
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
Ovarian cancer patients who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are significantly mo......continue reading
Cancer Research UK

Use of Iodinated Contrast Media in Imaging Procedures Appears to Affect Thyroid Function
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
Exposure to iodinated contrast media during imaging procedures is associated wi......continue reading
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University

UCSF Team Uncovers How Immune Cells Move Against Invaders
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
UCSF scientists have discovered the unexpected way in which a key cell of the i......continue reading
University of California, San Francisco

Researchers Look at Effects of Two Common Sweeteners on the Body (Study Finds That There is a Difference Between the Two)
Listed On: Friday, January 27, 2012
With growing concern that excessive levels of fructose may pose a great health ......continue reading
University of Colorado Denver

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