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Study: Media rarely notes when alcohol plays role in violent crimes and accidents

10-23-2006 · EurekAlert!

The news media seriously underreport the role alcohol plays in violent crimes, injuries and traffic accidents, according to a new national study. While alcohol is believed to play a role in about one-third of homicides and fatal motor vehicle accidents, media reports linked alcohol to specific accidents or crimes significantly less frequently.

Keywords: study, media, rarely, notes, alcohol, plays, role, violent, crimes, accidents, note, play, crime, accident

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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.
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Area deep within the brain found to play role in sensory perception
09-24-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study to be published in Annals of Neurology, the official journal of the American Neurological Association, found that the VL also plays a role in sensory processing and that damage to this area leads to functional and neural changes.
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Hepatitis C helicase unwinds DNA in a spring-loaded, 3-step process
07-26-2007 · EurekAlert!
The process by which genes are duplicated is mysterious and complex, involving a cast of characters with diverse talents and the ability to play well with others in extremely close quarters. A key player on this stage is an enzyme called a helicase. Its job is to unwind DNA or RNA so that another enzyme, a polymerase, can faithfully copy each nucleotide in the genetic code.A study to appear in Science sheds new light on how the hepatitis C helicase plays this role.
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Genes play important role in risk for dependence on illicit and licit drugs
11-05-2007 · EurekAlert!
The genes that play a role in illegal drug abuse are not entirely the same as those involved in dependence on legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, and caffeine addiction appears to be genetically independent of all the others, according to a study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
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Glucocorticoid plays key role in skin abnormalities induced by psychological stress
12-01-2006 · EurekAlert!
A new study shows how psychological stress induces abnormalities in skin structure and function that could initiate or worsen skin disorders such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. The study provides a link for understanding the roles psychological stress and glucocorticoid, a type of steroid, play in skin disorders and shows that blocking glucocorticoid can prevent skin abnormalities induced by psychological stress.
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Most middle-school boys and many girls play violent video games
07-02-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Mental Health and Media dispels myths and uncovers surprises about young teens and violent video and computer games. The study is the first to ask middle-school youth about the video and computer games they play and to analyze how many of those titles are rated M -- for ages 17 and up. It is also the first to ask children why they play video games.
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CT imaging can play important role in car crash testing
05-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Crash test injuries analyzed with CT imaging provide valuable data that can help engineers develop safer cars and reduce the severity of injuries during car accidents, according to a new study by researchers from the Ohio State University in Columbus.
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Plays promote prevention of drug abuse
04-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study finds that theatrical drama is an educational tool in the fight against drug addiction and abuse. Research published today in Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy, shows that after watching the play "Tunnels" -- a series of six vignettes depicting the effects of alcohol and drug abuse -- over half of the audience left the theatre wanting to get involved directly in drug and alcohol prevention in their homes and communities.
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Spirituality plays role in breast cancer information processing for African-American women
01-31-2007 · EurekAlert!
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 178,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die as a result of breast cancer in 2007. One way to battle these numbers is through increased information sharing and use of early detection methods. A new study from the University of Missouri-Columbia has found that spirituality might play an important role in achieving this, particularly for African-American women.
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Study advances evidence for receptor's role in alcohol pleasure and problems
03-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
A genetic variant of a receptor in the brain's reward circuitry heightens the stimulating effects of early exposures to alcohol and increases alcohol consumption, according to a new study by NIAAA researchers. Conducted in rhesus monkeys, the study extends previous research that suggests an important role for a similar brain receptor variant in the development of human alcohol use disorders. The findings appear in the March, 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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