New evidence that genetics play a significant role in some premature births may help explain why a woman can do everything right and still give birth too soon. Research presented today at the 30th Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) meeting and#8213; The Pregnancy Meeting and#8213; showed that the genes of both the mother and the fetus can make them susceptible to an inflammatory response that increases the risk of preterm labor and birth……..

A new weight-loss supplement tested by the University of Oklahoma Health and Exercise Science Department has the potential to burn as a number of calories as a 20-minute walk, as per Joel T. Cramer, assistant professor of exercise physiology. Cramer says General Nutrition Centers contracted with OU to test the weight-loss benefits of the nutritional supplement called the tri-pepper blend, which contains black pepper, caffeine and a concentrated form of capsaicin-the ingredient that makes red peppers hot. The OU study showed energy expenditures of three to six percent, results which are statistically significant enough to validate product weight-loss claims, Cramer said……..

The onset of schizophrenia is not easy to predict. Eventhough it is linked to as a number of as 14 genes in the human genome, the previous presence of schizophrenia in the family is not enough to determine whether one will succumb to the mind-altering condition. The disease also has a significant environmental link……..

Scientists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have found one reason that pancreas cancer tumors are so difficult to treat with drugs. They have shown how a molecular switch steps up pancreas cancer cell survival as well as resistance to a standard chemotherapy drug, and have identified alternate routes cancer cells take to avoid the effects of the treatment……..

The largest epidemiological study of Parkinson’s disease in the United States has observed that the disease is more common in the Midwest and the Northeast and is twice as likely to strike whites and Hispanics as blacks and Asians. The study, based on data from 36 million Medicare recipients, is both the first to produce any significant information on patterns of Parkinson’s disease in minorities and to show geographic clusters for the condition……..

A recent study by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh observed that workers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were comparable to non-impaired individuals in keyboarding speed. Individuals who were trained in touch typing demonstrated faster typing speeds than those using a visually-guided (”hunt and peck”) method, regardless of impairment. Scientists also noted slightly impaired mouse skills in workers with RA. Results of this study appear in the recent issue of Arthritis Care and Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology……..

As per a newly released study, there is no direct link between parents’ own level of physical activity, and how much their child may exercise. In fact, parents’ perceptions of their children’s athleticism are what have a direct impact on the children’s activity. The study by Oregon State University scientists Stewart Trost and Paul Loprinzi, reported in the journal Preventive Medicine, studied 268 children ages 2 to 5 in early childhood education centers in Queensland, Australia. Of these children, 156 parents or caregivers were surveyed on their parental practices, behaviors correlation to physical activity and demographic information……..

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Israel’s Weizman Institute of Science have observed that two antibiotics working together might be more effective in fighting pathogenic bacteria than either drug on its own. Individually, lankacidin and lankamycin, two antibiotics produced naturally by the microbe streptomyces, are marginally effective in warding off pathogens, says Alexander Mankin, professor and associate director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead investigator of the portion of the study conducted at UIC……..

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined by emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis. It destroys the normal architecture of the lung and inhibits the mechanical aspects of breathing, which prevents necessary gas exchange. Patients suffer from coughing fits, wheezing, and increased occurence rate of lung infections. These symptoms are linked to changes in the architecture of the lung.

Preoperative computed tomography (CT) may help reduce unnecessary surgeries in women of reproductive age with suspected acute appendicitis, as per a newly released study appearing in the recent issue of the journal Radiology “We observed that rising utilization of preoperative CT over the past decade, along with advances in CT technology, coincided with a significant decrease in negative appendectomies among women 45 years and younger,” said Courtney A. Coursey, M.D., a radiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, who co-authored this study while a radiology fellow at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C……..