Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Study reveals depressed elderly risk early death

03-07-2007 · EurekAlert!

Depression in elderly people is causing early mortality, a University of Liverpool study has found.

Keywords: study, reveals, depressed, elderly, risk, death, reveal

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "Study reveals depressed elderly risk early death":

Study explores distinction between 'different' and 'uncool'
12-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Just as some products reveal our aspirations, there are other products that consumers avoid, lest we be associated with a particular group. An environmentalist would never buy an SUV. Baby boomers avoid products associated with being elderly. What's the difference between products we actively avoid and those that are simply "not us?" A new study reveals an important distinction -- and also highlights the mitigating effect of social pressure.
Similar news · Read more »
Excess weight and adult weight gain increase the risk of dying from prostate cancer
01-08-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study finds that obesity increases the risk of death from prostate cancer, even though it does not increase the overall risk a man will be diagnosed with the disease. The study reveals that higher body mass index (BMI) and weight gain in adulthood correlated strongly with increased risk of death from prostate cancer.
Similar news · Read more »
Using the safety belt in the rear seats of the car reduces death risk by almost a half
01-29-2008 · EurekAlert!
A study carried out at the University of Granada reveals that women and children younger than three years old who travel in the rear seats of the car are ore likely to die in the event of a road crash than men. The research work also points out that the left side of the inside is more dangerous than the central or the right side.
Similar news · Read more »
Early switch to an aromatase inhibitor increases survival
02-12-2007 · EurekAlert!
For breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen, switching to an aromatase inhibitor within three years significantly improves survival rates, according to a new study. The study reveals that the clear survival benefit was also achieved without an increased risk of death from other causes -- a significant risk associated with tamoxifen.
Similar news · Read more »
Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
Similar news · Read more »
Low vitamin D during pregnancy linked to pre-eclampsia
09-07-2007 · EurekAlert!
Vitamin D deficiency early in pregnancy is associated with a five-fold increased risk of pre-eclampsia, reports a University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences study. A complication of pregnancy marked by soaring blood pressure, pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and fetal illness and death. Pre-eclampsia affects up to 7 percent of first pregnancies, and health-care costs associated with pre-eclampsia are estimated at $7 billion a year in the United States alone.
Similar news · Read more »
Radiation seed implant decreases risk of death over watchful waiting
10-31-2007 · EurekAlert!
Prostate cancer patients cut their risk of dying of the disease in half when they receive radiation seed implants to treat their cancer, compared to those who don't receive active treatment, within six months from being diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, according to a study presented Oct. 31, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.
Similar news · Read more »
Higher risk of death for babies born just a few weeks early, study finds
11-12-2007 · EurekAlert!
Just a few more weeks of pregnancy may mean the difference between life and death for premature babies. While babies born late preterm often are considered healthy, they have higher risks of complications at birth than babies born full term. Studies have shown that late preterm infants have a greater risk of respiratory problems, feeding difficulties, temperature instability, jaundice and that their brains are less developed than full term infants.
Similar news · Read more »
Marathons cut risk of fatal vehicle crashes
12-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
Organized marathons are not associated with an increased risk of sudden death, despite the media attention they attract. In fact, marathons lower the risk of fatal motor vehicle crashes that might otherwise have taken place if the roads had not been closed, finds a study in this week's Christmas issue of the BMJ.
Similar news · Read more »
Field Museum, U. of Illinois researchers reveal social assets of Chicago's Mexican immigrants
11-10-2006 · EurekAlert!
A new study, several years in the making, reveals that Mexican immigrants in the Chicagoland area possess a wealth of artistic and networking assets that contribute to the social and cultural vitality of neighborhoods, organizations and institutions. In addition, their participation in cultural and artistic activities stimulates economic activity, especially in the music industry and service sector.
Similar news · Read more »