http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Mutations in a gene may cause poor lung development in children, making them more vulnerable to diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) later in life, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and the German Research Center for Environmental Health. Their study, published online in Physiological Genomics, measured expression levels of the gene and its variants in both mouse lungs and children ages 9 to 11. http://www.physorg.com/news157283754.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:57:00 EST news157283754 Patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit a disordered breathing-swallowing pattern that may account for their higher risk of aspiration pneumonia, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh. http://www.physorg.com/news157280543.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:03:08 EST news157280543 (PhysOrg.com) -- It appears that when it comes to teen brain development, parents should be more worried about alcohol abuse than marijuana abuse. Two recent studies have been published showing that alcohol -- a legal substance (though not legal for teens in the U.S.) -- is considered more dangerous than marijuana, which is illegal in many countries. http://www.physorg.com/news157280425.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:00:48 EST news157280425 A tiny variation within a single gene can determine not only how quickly and well lungs grow and function in children and adolescents, but how susceptible those children will be to exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, even in utero, according to researchers from the University of Southern California. http://www.physorg.com/news157279924.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:54:56 EST news157279924 It seems like the ordinary is no longer acceptable when it comes to the ordinary things we attach to our computers these days. For example, I'll bet the computer mouse you are using is at the very least an optical, cordless model. I'm even willing to bet it's one of those sleek, ergonomic models that sport extra buttons that can fire off macros with a simple click. That screen you're staring at is probably a flat panel display that may even be capable of displaying high definition television images. http://www.physorg.com/news157228531.html Electronics Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:36:08 EST news157228531 People who have high blood pressure or heart disease should avoid consuming energy drinks, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study to be published online Wednesday in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy. http://www.physorg.com/news157206104.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:22:10 EST news157206104 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, identified a gene variant on chromosome 4 that may be a potential risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These findings will be published in PLoS Genetics on March 20th. http://www.physorg.com/news156783613.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:00:56 EST news156783613 Improved technology, partnerships and collaboration across two provinces have allowed Queen's University scientists to dramatically expand the use of eye-movement tests that help identify and assess children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). http://www.physorg.com/news156703558.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:46:50 EST news156703558 Apple solved one problem with its fun, new iPod Shuffle: With the push of a button on its headphone cord, it can tell you what song is playing. But it created another problem if you want to use a different pair of headphones than those shipped with the Shuffle. http://www.physorg.com/news156625131.html Electronics Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:59:28 EST news156625131 Estrogen may be a new postnatal therapy to improve lung function and other outcomes in preterm infants, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study. http://www.physorg.com/news156060657.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:11:28 EST news156060657 An enzyme researchers have studied for years because of its potential connections to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, appears to have yet another major role to play: helping create and maintain the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news156058874.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:41:48 EST news156058874 Researchers have crafted a gene circuit that permits precise tuning of a gene's expression in a cell, an advance that should allow for more accurate analysis of the gene's role in normal and abnormal cellular function. http://www.physorg.com/news155938720.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:18:56 EST news155938720 Even for those without a heart condition, it's a peculiar feeling when your heart "races" in response to stress. That pacing change happens in part because of how the enzyme calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) is called into action by the body's 'fight or flight' stress response, University of Iowa researchers have found. http://www.physorg.com/news155841231.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:15:38 EST news155841231 A new study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals that many N.C. high schools are not adequately prepared to handle the immediate medical needs of a student or employee who suffers a sudden cardiac arrest on campus. The findings were used to support a new statewide program to place automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in high schools. http://www.physorg.com/news155815091.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:58:43 EST news155815091 There's more bad news for people who carry excess weight around their waists: Not only is abdominal obesity associated with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health problems collectively known as "metabolic syndrome," a new study has found that a high waist circumference is strongly associated with decreased lung function -independent of smoking history, sex, body mass index (BMI) and other complicating factors. http://www.physorg.com/news155558873.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:48:36 EST news155558873 Chronic kidney disease increases the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of heart arrhythmia, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente researchers in the current online issue of Circulation. http://www.physorg.com/news155394724.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:12:32 EST news155394724 Sony's new liquid crystal display televisions will have an electronic money function to make it easier for users to pay to watch movies and programmes, the company said Monday. http://www.physorg.com/news155196942.html Electronics Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:16:37 EST news155196942 The impact of the amyloid plaques that appear in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease may extend beyond the deposits' effects on neurons - the cells that transmit electrochemical signals throughout the nervous system. In an article in the Feb. 27 issue of Science, researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) report that amyloid plaques may also increase the activity of astrocytes, star-shaped nervous system cells traditionally considered to provide a supporting role in normal brain function. They also show that amyloid-induced astrocyte hyperactivity extends throughout the brain rather than being confined to regions directly adjacent to plaques. http://www.physorg.com/news154881070.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:32:52 EST news154881070 Yale researchers have filled in a missing gap on the molecular road map of Alzheimer's disease. In the Feb. 26 issue of the journal Nature, the Yale team reports that cellular prion proteins trigger the process by which amyloid-beta peptides block brain function in Alzheimer's patients. http://www.physorg.com/news154790497.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:22:13 EST news154790497 Measuring kidney function in children can be expensive, time-consuming for clinicians, and tedious for children, who may be exposed to radioactivity and subjected to a large number of blood draws. A new calculation eliminates many of these obstacles, relying instead on various blood tests that can be performed in a clinical setting to offer an accurate estimate of a child's kidney function. http://www.physorg.com/news154694617.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:44:15 EST news154694617 Research by an Iowa State University scientist suggests that cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins may lessen brain function. http://www.physorg.com/news154632233.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:24:26 EST news154632233 Patients with reduced kidney function require lower doses of the anticoagulant drug warfarin, and may need closer monitoring to avoid serious bleeding complications, suggests a study in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). http://www.physorg.com/news154201914.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:52:38 EST news154201914 A widely used blood pressure medication may be the key to preventing brain function loss common after radiation treatment, according to a newly published study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The findings offer the hope of an improved quality of life for cancer patients. http://www.physorg.com/news154174058.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:08:09 EST news154174058 Dr. Marcia Blackman and her research team at the Trudeau Institute have followed up on an intriguing report published in the journal Nature in May 2007 by Dr. Herbert Virgin, et al., showing that mice persistently infected with certain forms of herpesvirus, which can establish lifelong latent infections, are resistant to infection with bacterial pathogens. http://www.physorg.com/news153669519.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:59:12 EST news153669519 Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a gene that when mutated causes obesity by dampening the body's ability to burn energy while leaving appetite unaffected. http://www.physorg.com/news152985131.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:52:49 EST news152985131 Young female athletes could have yet another reason to grab a glass of vitamin D-rich milk. Not only does vitamin D work with calcium to keep bones strong, researchers found that teenage girls with higher vitamin D levels may be able to jump higher and faster than their peers with lower levels, suggests a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. http://www.physorg.com/news152974829.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:01:11 EST news152974829 Two molecular biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have uncovered important new details about how a gene mutation causes a cellular editing error that results in a devastating disease called pontocerebellar hypoplasia (PCH). The new findings were published online, ahead of print, on January 25th in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news152373171.html Biology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:55:59 EST news152373171 The older the kidney, the worse it works - though exactly how much worse isn't known. But with a mean wait time of over three years for a kidney transplant, even old kidneys are in demand. The challenge for doctors is to determine a kidney's prospects prior to the operation. http://www.physorg.com/news152201256.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:08:20 EST news152201256 A study published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggested that the use of certain medications in elderly populations may be associated with cognitive decline. The study examined the effects of exposure to anticholinergic medications, a type of drug used to treat a variety of disorders that include respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, on over 500 relatively healthy men aged 65 years or older with high blood pressure. http://www.physorg.com/news152197278.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:01:48 EST news152197278 Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin", and cognitive impairment in a large-scale study of older people. The importance of these findings lies in the connection between cognitive function and dementia: people who have impaired cognitive function are more likely to develop dementia. The paper will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology. http://www.physorg.com/news151839942.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:46:24 EST news151839942