Harvard Medical School Archives

Vitamin B and Folic acid do not appear to affect cancer risk

Combined folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 treatment had no significant effect on overall risk of total invasive cancer or breast cancer among women during the folic acid fortification era. – A daily supplementation combination that included folic acid and vitamin B6 and B12 had no significant effect on the overall risk of cancer, including breast cancer, among women at high risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study in the November 5 issue of JAMA.

New genes identified linked to lung cancer

Scientists find new genes linked to lung cancer. Discovery opens door to individualized treatment strategies. – Working as part of a multi-institutional collaboration, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have assembled the most complete catalog to date of the genetic changes underlying the most common form of lung cancer.

Free drug samples not safe for children

Free drug samples carry risks for children. First of its kind study finds safety concerns in frequently distributed samples – Free prescription drug samples distributed to children may be unsafe, according to a study by physicians from Cambridge Health Alliance and Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

Colon cancer’s genetic link to obesity

JAMA study a first to connect obesity, genetics and colon cancer risk. Gene variation associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer. – A new study reveals the first-ever genetic link between obesity and colon cancer risk, a finding that could lead to greater accuracy in testing for the disease, said a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Need to govern organ donation and transplantation

A new declaration opposes transplant commercialism, transplant tourism and organ trafficking; Governments and international organizations urged to safeguard against these unethical practices. – All countries should take steps to govern organ donation and transplantation, thereby ensuring patient safety and prohibiting unethical practices, according to an article appearing in the September 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

Boys grow out of childhood asthma

Asthma in boys may be just a phase, but for girls it may be there to stay. Airway responsiveness is more severe in the postpubertal female with asthma than in males. – Boys may be more apt than girls to have childhood asthma, but, when compared to girls, they are also more likely to grow out of it in adolescence and have a decreased incidence of asthma in the post-pubertal years. This indicates that there may be a buried mechanism in asthma development, according to a prospective study that analyzed airway responsiveness (AR) in more than 1,000 children with mild to moderate asthma over a period of about nine years.

Cold sore’s herpes simplex virus mechanism revealed

The secret of how the cold sore virus (herpes simplex virus 1) manages to persist for a lifetime in the human body may have been cracked by US scientists. – Now that Duke University Medical Center scientists have figured out how the virus that causes cold sores hides out, they may have a way to wake it up and kill it.

Red wine may ward off effects of age on heart, bones, eyes and muscles

Scientists have found that the compound resveratrol slows age-related deterioration and functional decline, but does not increase longevity. – Large doses of a red wine ingredient can ward off many of the vagaries of aging in mice who begin taking it at midlife, according to a new report published online on July 3rd in Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. Those health improvements of the chemical known as resveratrol-including cardiovascular benefits, greater motor coordination, reduced cataracts and better bone density-come without necessarily extending the animals’ lifespan.

Rheumatoid arthritis risk higher in people with high birth weight

Heavy birthweight female babies are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis in adulthood as their average birthweight peers, suggests research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
– People who have a birth weight over 10 pounds are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis when they are adults compared to individuals born with an average birth weight, according to a study published by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery online in advance of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Decision to quit smoking appears to be contagious

Putting down cigarettes for good can have unexpected social benefits, according to new research from Harvard and the University of California, San Diego. – The decision to quit smoking appears to be taken up almost communally, with whole clusters of spouses, friends, siblings and co-workers giving up the habit at about the same time, revealed by researchers.

Prasugrel cuts risk of stent-related clots

Study Results Show Investigational Drug, Prasugrel, Cuts Risk of Stent-Related Clots by More than Half Versus Clopidogrel. Reductions seen as soon as three days and out to 450 days in patients who received either bare metal or drug-eluting stents. – The investigational antiplatelet drug prasugrel plus aspirin produced a marked and highly statistically significant reduction in the risk of coronary stent thrombosis (ST) – a major concern for physicians and patients with potentially fatal consequences – in patients who received a stent as compared to standard therapy with clopidogrel (Plavix) plus aspirin, according to a stent analysis from the head-to-head TRITON-TIMI 38 trial.

Protein Robo4 may reverse macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy

Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness?age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy?can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells. – Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness-age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy-can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and several other institutions have announced in a new study.