November 7th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
Tags: Autism, Brain, Brain Disorders, Ethnicity, Gene Expression, Genomics, Imaging, Mental Health, Molecular Architecture, National Institutes of Health, Nature Journal, Prefrontal Cortex, Research, Transcriptions
No Comments »
Human brains have a consistent molecular architecture despite all the other genetic differences across individuals and ethnicities, according to two studies that recorded when and where genes turn on and off in multiple brain regions throughout life.
Despite individual and ethnic genetic diversity, the human prefrontal cortex shows a consistent molecular architecture, as shown in this picture. The vertical span of color-coded areas is about the same, indicating that our brains all share the same tissue at a molecular level, despite distinct DNA differences on the horizontal axis. Each dot represents a comparison between two individuals.
The research appeared in the Journal Nature and was described by the National Institutes of Health in a press release.
The first study focused on Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
November 7th, 2011 by Mary Lynn McPherson, Pharm.D. in Opinion, Research
Tags: Addictive, CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Death, Drug Abuse, Fatal, Ibuprofen, Institute of Medicine, Medications, Naproxen, Narcotics, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Opioids, Overdose, Pain, Pain Management, PainSafe Alliance, Prescriptions
1 Comment »
The overdose death rate from prescription opioids, referred to as “narcotics”, has reached “epidemic levels” in the US according to a report just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report further states that the intentional misuse and abuse of popular opioids such as OxyContin, Vicodin, methadone and others now cause more deaths than those caused by heroin and cocaine combined.
Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC Director told reporters that “Narcotics prescribed by physicians kill 40 people a day.” He continued by stating “Prescription painkillers are meant to help people who have severe pain. They are, however, highly addictive.”
The report states that increased prescribing of pain medications by doctors is a significant cause of this growing number of deaths. However, the situation is far more complicated than this report presents. Poor pain management and prescription drug abuse has become Read more »
November 7th, 2011 by Michael Craig Miller, M.D. in Research
Tags: Adderall, ADHD, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Heart Association, Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder, Blood Pressure, Children's Health, Death, Evidence, FDA, Harvard, Heart Disease, Heart Health, Heart Rate, Increase, Mental Health, New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Research, Ritalin, Study
No Comments »
If your child is being treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may have one less thing to worry about today. A study involving 1.2 million children and young adults provided reassuring evidence that the drugs used to treat ADHD do not increase the risk of death from heart disease.
Researchers, who published their results yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed medical records from a nationwide private insurance plan along with health plans based in Tennessee, California, and Washington State. They compared children taking stimulant drugs (like Ritalin and Adderall) that are commonly used to treat ADHD to children not taking these drugs.
Among all of the children, heart attack, stroke, or sudden death were rare, affecting a little more than 3 in every 100,000 children per year. Cardiac problems were no more common among children using a stimulant as among those not taking one.
The study Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
November 6th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research
Tags: Athlete, Coronary Artery Disease, Exercise, Future, Healthy Living, Heart Health, Inflammation, Mindset, Optimism, Performance, Pessimism, Research, Stroke Risk
No Comments »
An athletic lifestyle offers many health benefits. This is hardly news. Exercise, attention to good eating and getting adequate rest makes everything better: lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, higher heart rate turbulence and better survival in the event of heart attack and Cancer, just to name a few. The list of positives approaches infinity. We athletes do a lot that is healthy.
But tonight, I want to muse about yet another benefit of being a competitive athlete—you know, the kind of person that signs up for a challenge and then sees it through. No, it’s not just about bike racing, it could be anything that involves pinning a number and seeing results published on the word wide web.
What extra benefit? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
November 5th, 2011 by MuinKhouryMDPhD in Opinion, Research
Tags: Base pairs, CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Disease, DNA, Environmental Factors, Genomics, Influence, Nature, Nurture, Pharmacogenomics, Public Health, Technology, WGS, Whole Genome Sequence
No Comments »
The popular proverbial saying “you cannot have your cake and eat it too” implies that one cannot consume something and preserve it at the same time–in other words, we cannot have it both ways. Well, for once, maybe we can have our cake–our whole genome sequence (WGS)–and eat it too. I believe having our WGS and consuming it in small bite sizes over a lifetime may be the only way to integrate it into medicine and public health.
Rapid advances in genomic sequencing technologies are making the possibility of reliable and affordable whole genome sequencing (WGS) a reality in the next few years. We all carry about 6 billion base pairs of DNA in each of our cells, with 5-10 million inherited variants that are different among us. This genetic variation along with environmental influences provides a blueprint for health throughout the life span, and is related to virtually every disease of public health significance. There is definite interest among the public and scientists about the personal utility of this information. In a recent survey by Nature, attitudes towards genome sequencing were explored among a sample dominated by scientists and professionals from medicine and public health. Although only 18.2% of respondents had had their genome sequenced or analyzed, 2/3 of those who had not reported they would take the opportunity should it arise. Curiosity was reported as the main single factor influencing respondents.
Can this information be useful today in improving medical care and preventing disease? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Genomics and Health Impact Blog*
