Studies and Analyses

Study supports physical activity programs for preventing disability among elderly patients

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Nearly 60 percent of Americans ages 65 and older suffer with some form of this progressive joint disease. For more than 1 in 10 sufferers, arthritis makes simple, everyday tasks, from walking up a flight of stairs to bathing and dressing, extremely difficult. By 2010, arthritis is projected to affect almost 40 million Americans

Study suggests a common viral infection may increase risk of lupus in African Americans. Findings also show that genetic variation may affect the immune response to Epstein-Barr virus in lupus patients.

Almost everyone has been infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes family and one of the most common human viruses. Symptoms of initial infection range from a typically mild childhood illness with a fever and sore throat to mononucleosis in teenagers or adults. A

New research on prions, the infectious proteins behind “mad cow” disease and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease in humans, suggests that the ability of prions in one species to infect other species depends on the shape of the toxic threadlike fibers produced by the prion. Two studies on the topic appear in the 8 April issue of the journal Cell.

Although research suggests that prions from one species rarely infect other species, some scientists believe the species barrier was breached when a n

A major new Dutch study has found that smoking adds the equivalent of ten years to a 20-year-old subfertile woman’s reproductive age and has a “devastating” impact on a couples’ chances of having a live birth after IVF. Being overweight also seriously damages their chances.

The harmful effects of smoking or being overweight were strongest among those women who had no obvious cause for not conceiving, according to the research, published today (Thursday 7 April) in Europe’s lea

New highly sensitive approach shows no evidence of SV40 in tumors – SV40 unlikely to be factor in asbestos related cancers

SV40 does not have a role in the majority of malignant mesotheliomas — a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos – according to a study in this month’s Cancer Research. The study, led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers used a scrupulous protocol that eliminated contamination that has likely been the reason previous studies have implicated

A study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston may lead to a better understanding of how antidepressants like Prozac work – and how to make them more effective.

According to results published in today’s issue of the journal Neuron, a study in mice proposes that dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitter systems in the brain occasionally get their signals crossed, causing delays in stabilizing mood. “This study provides a new site for drug discovery in one of the biggest marke