Mesothelioma

This study, conducted by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and The Hospital for Sick Children, is the first of its kind in more than three decades, to examine the folate status of Canadians including a subset of women of childbearing age. Red blood cell folate concentrations were examined in 5248 Canadians [...]

DNA hypermethylation, notes co-author Jean-Pierre Issa, M.D., professor in MD Anderson’s Department of Leukemia, is found in a variety of cancers and diseases of aging, such as heart disease. Methyl groups attach to genes at sites called CpG islands and protrude like tags or book marks from the promoter region, preventing gene expression. "Our new [...]

Vitamin D is ingested in the diet as well as synthesized in the skin from UVB irradiation from the sun. People living in areas that receive less sunlight have lower circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and have higher prevalence rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In addition, both children and adults with IBD have an [...]

"We know that darker skin pigmentation acts somewhat as a block to producing vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, which is the primary source of vitamin D in most people," said Susan Steck, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Carolina. Steck and colleagues observed 107 women who were all diagnosed [...]

The explanation is surprisingly simple; lowering homocysteine prevents platelets sticking, which stops blood clots…something aspirin also does, so if people in the trials were already taking aspirin there would be no extra benefit in lowering homocysteine with folic acid. Aspirin was in fact widely used by participants in the trials because they were mainly conducted [...]

The article appears in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Duo Li notes in the review that meat eaters are known for having a significantly higher combination of cardiovascular risk factors than vegetarians. Lower-risk vegans, however, may not be immune. Their diets tend to be lacking several key nutrients — including iron, zinc, vitamin [...]

Connie Weaver and colleagues cite studies suggesting that up to 7 in 10 people in the United States may not get enough vitamin D, which enables the body to absorb calcium. Far from just contributing to healthy bones, however, vitamin D seems to have body-wide beneficial effects. Vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to an [...]

A team from the Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge and Cardiff has created a range of motor neurons — nerves cells that send messages from the brain and spine to other parts of the body — from human embryonic stem cells in the laboratory. It is the first time that researchers have been able to generate [...]

The study will be published in the scientific journal Drug Metabolism & Disposition and is based on nearly 70,000 analyses from patients who have undergone regular monitoring of the levels of drugs in their blood. The drugs taken by these patients are used to suppress the immune system in association with organ transplants. Samples taken [...]

In a study published in PLoS Medicine, Christa Fischer Walker from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, and colleagues found that a complete package of interventions, including access to clean water and improved sanitation, would reduce child diarrhea deaths by up to 92% and would only cost just over US$3.24 per [...]