Health Meaning

club-shaped fingers may be a warning sign for serious heart and lung disease, but the cause of the disease remained a mystery for more than 2400 years. Now researchers may have taken a step toward solving the puzzle by identifying the mutation that grows a rare type of clubbing.

Clubbing, or swelling of the fingers, is one of the first symptoms of medical students learn to look for because it can signal lung cancer, heart disease, or other conditions serious. The father of medicine himself, Hippocrates, first described clubbing about 450 BCE, but researchers have yet to understand what triggers swelling.

Seeking a genetic index, a team led by David Bonthron, a clinical geneticist at the University of Leeds, UK, went to get the DNA glitch behind primary OAH (PHO). The rare, representing only 3% to 5% of clubbing, resulting in the end of the extended fingers and joint pain, but does not cause the other underlying disorders - although some patients also develop heart disease

team Bonthron. scanned the genomes of six PHO patients from three different families and found that they all had a mutation in the HPGD gene. The gene encodes an enzyme that breaks down prostaglandins, hormonelike molecules that promote inflammation and help regulate water balance and blood circulation - a process that could affect clubbing. Further examination showed that the patients had levels of PGE2 prostaglandin called higher than normal, confirming that the mutation leads to a defective enzyme that does not break down properly prostaglandins, the researchers report this week Nature Genetics . The discovery suggests that a urine test for elevated prostaglandin levels could help doctors diagnose this type of clubbing and that the condition could be reversed with existing drugs that block prostaglandins.

The overproduction of prostaglandins may also be the cause of the disco associated with lung cancer, heart disease and other diseases, said Bonthron. Although patients with these conditions have no HPGD mutation, he said, other aspects of their conditions, such as tumors that occur with lung cancer, trigger an increase in prostaglandins.

Manuel Martinez-Lavin, rheumatologist at the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico City, Mexico, agreed that the discovery could offer insight into the cause of other forms of clubbing. But he doubts that high prostaglandins directly produce finger swelling. Indeed, the compounds were used to treat peptic ulcers, and there is no evidence of abnormalities of the fingers in these patients, he noted.

Instead, says Martinez-Lavin, high levels of prostaglandins could somehow afford another molecule called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to cause the disco. Previous studies have shown that PHO patients have high levels of VEGF, which can trigger symptoms of clubbing, including fluid accumulation, he said.

Related Sites

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The same diseases that afflict . Humanity can also lead one of the fundamental elements of human culture, a new study suggests. A statistical analysis showed an association between higher rates of infectious diseases and of religious diversity in the world. The results have already sparked debate within the academic community; Critics question the validity of the interpretation, and proponents say the discovery could provide a new perspective on why religions exist and what role they play in society.

The history of individual religions are well documented, but the evolution of religion itself is not well understood. Two schools of thought have dominated the debate. The first view religion as a "byproduct" of other evolutionary adaptations such as large brains. The second religion sees itself as adaptive, arguing the man's role in social cohesion and other traits may have helped him survive.

Corey Fincher, a biologist at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, falls into the second camp. Religion brand group members, he says, and can deter people interact with those outside the group. In areas where there is an infectious disease, it can be an advantage: No foreign means external pathogens. Isolation can also prevent the exchange of ideas, religions or, in this case. This could lead to the rise of many independent religious systems.

Fincher and his colleagues looked for an association between religious diversity and disease rates of a nation. They used World Christian Encyclopedia Barrett count the number of religions in 219 countries and verified against the pervasiveness of the disease in these areas, as indicated in a global database of epidemiology. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the prevalence of the disease and religious diversity, religion or wealth. This persisted even when the researchers controlled for other variables that could affect the number of religions in a country the size, population, religious freedom, and economic inequality. To correct the different types of human settlement in different parts of the world, they also tested the association of disease and religious diversity in six major regions of the world; the correlation still held true.

The results, published online yesterday by the Proceedings of the Royal Society B , offer a new answer to the question of why religions exist, says Fincher. "Religions are for marking, but at a more fundamental level, may be social in itself remarkable due to stress of infectious diseases."

But Courtney Bender, a sociologist of religion at Columbia University, disagrees. Religions around the beach in the world to be very open very closed to foreigners, she said, "You can not just say religions have strong limits" Indeed, traditional religious communities often interact with those outside. their own group for trade or military alliances, said Richard Sosis, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut (U Conn), Storrs. Yet Sosis welcomes the study as a "first step" to explain the diversity religious.

"I think [the researchers] are the introduction of an area that has been absent in the development of studies of religion and is potentially important," says anthropologist Candace Alcorta also U Conn Alcorta notes that the existence of large empires in the tropics, the rich diseases -. such as the Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula - seems to contradict the findings of Fincher. But the questions the study raises could inspire research that will advance the field forward, she said.

The gene responsible for cystic fibrosis (CF) was discovered there near 20 years, but since then progress to conquer this devastating lung disease has been slow. Now researchers have a new tool designed to develop pigs CF They are considered a breakthrough because they are born with the disease features as those observed in infants, while mouse models are not.

Approximately a 4,000 babies in the United States is born with CF. It is caused by a defect in the gene CFTR , which generates an ion channel protein that moves salt and water across the cell membrane in certain tissues. The lungs of CF patients are normal at birth, but over time become clogged with sticky mucus and becomes vulnerable to infection; despite new treatments, many patients die in their 20s or 30s. The mouse created for the CFTR default are far from the human reality of the disease: They do not develop disease or lung injury to other organs such as the pancreas. And it also means they do not provide much insight into how the disease progresses in children. So Michael Welsh, physician and molecular physiologist at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, sought a better animal model "frustration," he said.

Five years, Welsh teamed with animal scientist Randall Prather of the University of Missouri, Columbia, which develops transgenic pigs ( science NOW, January 2, 02). They have disabled the first CFTR existing gene in pig cells then cloned pigs from these cells, which was not easy because the two stages have been developed that in mice. Last April, the researchers reported these findings in Journal of Clinical Investigation , describing the pigs with a silent copy of CFTR . they then mated those pigs to see if the descent with two bad copies of CFTR to develop a CF-like disease. "We did not know if we were to end up with a big mouse," Welsh said.

Instead, they got something much closer to a human with CF, reports of the Welsh team in this week's issue of science . The newborn piglets have many of the same signs of CF observed in infants, including transportation impaired salt, intestinal blockages and pancreas and liver damage. - But normal lungs

One difference is that, although only 15% of infants are born with an intestinal blockage, all pigs were, and many had to be euthanized young. The team performed a surgery to correct the blockage on some pigs and watching as they grow for signs of lung problems. "We're excited, but we're still holding our breath," said Welsh. He and several others founded a company that will sell the pigs to pharmaceutical companies and researchers studying FC

Others in the area are CF announce the arrival of pork. "It is a remarkable seminal achievement," said Eric Sorscher of the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He and others say it should be useful not only for the study of the natural history of the disease, but also for the improvement of gene therapy for cystic fibrosis, which has had limited success. "it is a beautiful piece of work and it's good to see happen," confirms Richard Boucher of the University of Carolina North, Chapel Hill.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Food and Drug Administration of the United States has quietly dropped plans to end the use of certain long-term antibiotics in animals that end up on our plates. Many public health officials have long worried about the overuse of antibiotics in people and animals, which can promote drug resistance, now a major problem in many hospitals. Antibiotics in cattle, pigs and other animals killed for food were particularly controversial. On the one hand, they can protect animals against some infections and growth. On the other hand, for at least 20 years, researchers have known that humans who develop infections, such as salmonella, after eating meat from animals fed large amounts of antibiotics are less likely to respond to related drugs.

In July, the FDA said it would push against the use of cephalosporin antibiotics in animals. In late November, he reversed his decision days before the rule was scheduled to take effect. The FDA said in a notice in the Federal Register he had received "many substantive comments" on the prohibition and was "this action so that it can fully reflect these observations. "A spokesman for the agency said FDA could then implement the ban.

It is expected that the Obama administration will appoint one of several major critics of the US Food and Drug Administration to run the beleaguered agency. Yesterday the President pointed out in a pre-Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer on NBC that he is willing to give wide berth the next FDA head in fixing things:

Matt Lauer: He there has been a massive peanut butter product recall in the country in recent weeks. Most track products track down a plant in Georgia that has a bit of a history of sending products even though there were traces of salmonella found.

The question the obvious question people want to know, is the FDA doing its job

tHE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the FDA has not been able to take certain these things as fast as I think they catch. And so we will do a complete review of FDA operations. I do not want to prejudge this particular case, but there have been enough cases in recent years - and the bare minimum we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat Peanut Butter.

newspaper publishers are always ready to ask authors to disclose individual contributions to documents and potential conflicts of interest. Today, the editors of PLoS Medicin ea published an editorial calling for publishers to do the same thing because their "political and scientific opinions, personal relationships and financial and professional interests can any conceivable interfere with the objectivity of their decisions. "

an example is the additional incentive of publishing documents that may be reprinted as best sellers, when drafting committees have to consider survival magazine in a world increasingly competitive, in addition to scientific merit.

editorial identifies four other issues that contribute to a bias in the medical literature and a lack of transparency in scientific publications, namely, recognition of interests beyond trade, the problem of ghost writing, undisclosed original protocols, and through the publication to only "" exciting results.

Fiona Godlee, editor of British Medical Journal said that "he is a good leader, together pulling the questions that have been well aired before but remain important, and it is excellent that PLoS defends the publication ethics in this way. "For now, the BMJ guidelines for publishing address these concerns," except that this time, we ask the authors, reviewers and editors to report only financial competing interests " Godlee said, "but this policy is under review, and the plan is to extend the obligation of non-financial interests as well in competition. "

Katrina Kelner, deputy editor for life sciences at science , agrees that" publication bias medically relevant results is a serious problem and newspapers can be a place where efforts can be made to ensure that this bias is minimized. " According Kelner Science already follows most of the guidelines presented by PLoS editorial. It also points out that open access is not the only way to avoid conflicts of interest introduced by sales reprint. If editors are strictly separated from management business newspaper publishers should never be aware reprint sales, Kelner says, citing Science 's example.

"The concepts raised by PLoS publishers are important, but not new and have been treated by our organization," said Margaret Winkler, president of the World Association of Medical Editors. Winkler points out another problem that editorial failures, necessary for full transparency in the medical literature, namely the requirement that "the authors register clinical trials in early trial rather than after they determine the results, or results are to their liking. "

WASHINGTON, DC In the same room where chandeliers White House, it 2 years ago, George Bush reaffirmed federal restrictions on research on embryonic stem cells, President Barack Obama announced this morning that "we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research [and] vigorously support scientists pursue this research. " Scientists are delighted by the decision and decree that accompanied a first-recovery policy envisaged by Bush on Aug. 9, 01.

lobbyists, politicians, ethicists, researchers strains on cells, and a quota beautiful Nobelists, including Harold Varmus, head of the Council Chairman of advisors on science and technology, were on hand for the announcement. Even researcher Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, famous for developing the so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, flew to the signing, which ended with a standing ovation from the crowd. A day may come "when words like" terminal "and" incurable "are potentially retired from our vocabulary," said the president.

bills-the identical same legislation vetoed by Bush in 07, were introduced in the House of representatives and the Senate to codify the policy change

Obama also used the opportunity to address another aspect of the Bush reign that scientists had criticized the :. alleged politicization of topics from stem cells to global warming. the President announced that he sent a memorandum to the Office of science and technology leader in developing "a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision decision "within the next 0 days.

"This is a great result," said the University of Pennsylvania stem cell researcher John Gearhart, speaking of a route taxi to the ceremony at the White House. It "raises a cloud in many areas," he said, and "also sends a message internationally that [National Institutes of Health-funded researchers] can work with people."

NIH 0 days come to guidelines on research involving hundreds of human embryonic stem cells that are now available to researchers. Scientists hope they will be able to get a piece of the action of the budget bill recovery, which allocates $ 0 million for a new grant program that includes research on stem cells and regenerative medicine .

How the brain to cope when, several years after both hands amputated, a person suddenly gets two new hands? Surprisingly well, it seems. In a study now researchers provide the most detailed picture yet of how the brain reorganizes to welcome foreign appendages. And in result they are still trying to explain, scientists have found that in two of the double-hand transplant, left hand with the brain reconnected more quickly than the right.

A group of French and Australian doctors performed the first transplant of the hand of the world in 1998, the same team repeated the feat on two hands two years later. Studies indicate that since the brain reorganizes in response to the new appendages. However, the work looked only rude hand movements that primarily used non transplanted muscles.

Wanting to learn more about how the brain copes with donor hands, cognitive neuroscientist Angela Sirigu of the National Agency of French research in Lyon and his colleagues looked at two right-handed men, the one aged 20 and the other 42, who had recently left and transplant the right hand to replace hands amputated following the accidents there are 3 to 4 years. After extensive training, both men are now able to perform a series of complex tasks with foreign appendages, dial using tools telephone number such as screwdrivers and pliers to rewire an electrical outlet .

The researchers found that both motor cortexes of men - the brain region responsible for the execution of muscle movement - had reorganized themselves in response to new hands. After a person loses a hand, the motor cortex area that controls hand movement narrows and reconnects to control the arm, a property called plasticity. But when Sirigu and colleagues used transcranial magnetic stimulation - a technique that uses magnetic fields to excite neurons in the brain - to stimulate specific fragments of the motor cortex, they found that the "main zone" in the cortex engine of the two men had resumed their "wiring". The original finding, reported online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , shows that the brain is capable of reorganizing in a way quite dramatically in response to the hand transplants says Sirigu.

But a result baffled team Sirigu: In both men, the left hand of the dealer was able to connect with the brain more quickly than was the law. In younger patients, the left hand took 10 months and the right of 26 months, to work effectively with the brain, leaving the patient with the left while his dominant hand when performing complex tasks after transplantation . In the other patient, the left hand was able to perform complex tasks after 51 months, while the law is lagging behind. The findings could mean that, because the right hand is dominant in these men, its representation in the brain is more rigid than the left - and thus the brain is less able to rewire the control of it - says co- author Claudia Vargas, a neuroscientist who recently moved to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Yet Sirigu warns that it is too early to draw concrete conclusions. The difference could result from something as simple as how the surgeon reattached each hand, she said, noting that a different surgeon worked on each hand. In addition, two patients had used the advanced prosthetic right hand controlled by the nerves in the amputation stump. The motor cortex may have reorganized to accommodate the prosthesis, which may have slowed its ability to then accept the new donor hand, says Sirigu.

neuroscientists greet the new work yet another demonstration of remarkable brain plasticity. "The results are important because they show that even after years without a hand to control the brain retrains the circuitry to control one," says neurophysiologist John Rothwell of the Institute of Neurology at University College London. And it could have "important clinical applications for rehabilitation," says neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran of the University of California, San Diego.

with the National Institutes of Health receiving 10.4 billion dollars thanks to the exceptional economic stimulus plan, all eyes are on the agency to see how the money will transform biomedical research in the next 2 years (or at least, scientists give the matter their full attention after the end of the frantic effort to ask for some of that cash themselves).

Speaking today at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, John Niederhuber, who leads the National Cancer Institute, detailed how his organization plans to spend part 1 $ 3 billion that comes his way. Americans "want better ways to prevent cancer; they want the first diagnosis, and they want new therapies with fewer side effects that turn cancer into a condition you can live with and not die," said Niederguber, according to a transcript of his speech.

How to accomplish this with a flurry of money in a short time?

well, Niederguber said, during fiscal 09 NCI will fund grants that hit the 16th percentile in magazines, a large improvement over the 12th percentile in progress. NCI is also push harder in translational medicine. Niederguber said it will expand the Cancer Genome Atlas to characterize all genomic changes in 20 to 25 cancers; create a "small national patient characterization centers network," which genetically characterize patients to something a number of medical centers like the Mayo clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital, are already moving to do; and create a network of "physical sciences-oncology centers" to gather nanobiologie, proteomics and systems biology. NCI discussed all these approaches for a number of months, but the expansion of the Cancer Genome Atlas is a strong vote of confidence for a certain project had criticized.

Niederguber also briefly addressed a concern for many NCI beneficiaries: What will happen once the money from the short recovery after 2 years, especially given that the NCI will fund grants 4 years. "It is for NCI caring and thoughtful financing risks initially" these projects knowing that they will not be supported by the stimulus money through their lives, Niederguber admitted. And "I think it falls, so our beneficiaries to come forward with only their strongest science" of -wishful thought maybe, since virtually all biomedical scientists seeking a slice of the stimulus plan.

infectious disease specialist Edwin D. Kilbourne, now 88 and retired, was the center of the last warning to swine flu in the US in 1976, a strain of swine flu has swept Fort Dix military base in New Jersey. The virus has infected about 500 soldiers, but not all were sick; one died. Kilbourne, then medical school at Mount Sinai in New York, specializing in the development of specific strains of flu vaccines and was quickly recruited to help fight against a dreaded epidemic of swine flu. Forty million Americans were then vaccinated against the virus, and several hundred have developed a neurological disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, fueling controversy over whether this extended vaccination was necessary. Kilbourne spoke with Science Insider from his home in Connecticut earlier today. Parts of the interview were edited for clarity.

Q & A after the jump

Q :. What are your memories of that time?

I recombine, or recourse, influenza viruses for several years before that, for producing influenza viruses in high yield [that could be developed into vaccines]. David Sencer, director of the CDC who had to resign later [as a result of swine flu], was a friend of mine and put me on the advisory committee having to do with the situation Fort Dix. [Virus samples were] sent to me at my lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where I chaired microbiology. In a few weeks, we had a high virus yield [and] I had the manufactured vaccine virus. ... There were reasons to be afraid, we knew that a virus very similar to swine flu was present in 1918. This gave a great concern to those of us who knew something about the situation.

Q: You felt it was important to have this vaccine

I thought it was important, it could have been the putative virus of 1918 for all we knew. [But], there were those violently opposed to the situation. I call my 15 minutes of infamy. It's got to be a bad word, swine flu. On the other hand, if we had not had the vaccine and something had happened, that would be blamed? The entire medical profession.

Q: What about adverse reactions to the vaccine

This was the largest field trial of a vaccine in history, achieved in 1976. There was no basis for comparison which is the normal occurrence of Guillain-Barré syndrome. People compete to date if [the vaccine] really had no effect on incidence. There are many things that cause Guillain-Barre.

Q: Have you been criticized for vaccine development

With cartoons, news programs. ... It was an interesting turn

Q :. If you were advising those who attack the current swine flu, what would you tell them?

The only thing I would have done differently in 1976, in retrospect, is to make the vaccine, to promote the vaccine, but do not give the vaccine until the last moment, but the problem with this is that you may be too late. By all means, find the prevalent strain, a vaccine that can be used, and grow in eggs, then go with it. [But] I think it is premature to do so [vaccinate] now

Q:.? Did you continue to work on swine flu after 1976

Oh, of course. We used in animal studies, it has been used by people in other countries as a fast growing virus vaccine. It is an interesting virus.