September 24, 2012 Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online A new study has confirmed a link between sugary sodas, and genetic susceptibility to high body mass index (BMI) and increased risk of obesity. The team wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that their findings reinforce the view that environmental and genetic factors shape obesity risk. Our study for the first time provides reproducible evidence from three prospective cohorts to show genetic and dietary factorssugar-sweetened beveragesmay mutually influence their effects on body weight and obesity risk, Lu Qi, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and senior author of the study, said in a press release. Consuming sugary drinks in the past three decades has increased worldwide, and there has been little research on whether environmental factors like drinking these drinks can influence genetic predisposition. For the study, the team used data from 121,700 women in the Nurses Health Study (NHS), 51,529 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), and 25,000 in the Womens Genome Health Study (WGHS). All of the participants in the research had completed food-frequency questionnaires detailing their food and drink consumption. The team analyzed data from … Continue reading →

Public release date: 24-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Katherine Barnes katherine.barnes@kcl.ac.uk 44-207-848-3076 King's College London Researchers at King's College London have for the first time identified a gene linked to age-related degeneration of the intervertebral discs in the spine, a common cause of lower back pain. Costing the UK an estimated 7billion a year due to sickness leave and treatment costs, the causes of back pain are not yet fully understood. Until now, the genetic cause of lower back pain associated with lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) was unknown, but the largest study to date, published this week in the journal Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, has revealed an association with the PARK2 gene. The researchers, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Arthritis Research UK, say more research into this surprising association needs to be carried out in order to fully understand how it is triggered, but this new finding could ultimately pave the way towards developing new treatments in the future. LDD is a common age-related trait, with over a third of middle-aged women having at least one degenerate disc in the spine. Discs become dehydrated, lose height and the vertebrae next to the discs develop bony growths … Continue reading →

Newswise STONY BROOK, N.Y., September 24, 2012 Benjamin J. Luft, M.D., Edmund D. Pellegrino Professor of Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Medical Director of the Long Island Clinical Center of Excellence (LI-CCE), part of the World Trade Center Health Program, and colleagues, have received a two-year $1 million grant from the WTC Health Program, which is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to study the role genetics may play after exposure to environmental toxins in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and respiratory illness in 9/11 WTC responders. Approximately 10 percent of 9/11 responders treated at WTC Health Programs suffer from both conditions. The Epigenetics Link of PTSD and Respiratory Disease in 9/11 Responders study is the first to investigate the association between genetic changes and the development of both conditions in the 9/11 responder patient population. Approximately 500 patients treated at the LI-CCE for both conditions will be evaluated during the two-year study. Numerous studies have linked PTSD with physical illnesses, illustrating the integral association between mental health and physical disease. For example, in 2011 Dr. Luft and Evelyn Bromet, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, … Continue reading →