Editorial Team

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Brain Cancer

Brain cancer treatment without surgery                                Back to Features

Researchers are developing a new approach to treating brain cancer that does not involve surgery. In the new procedure, doctors use radiation and inject specially cultured bone marrow cells into the tumor. This combination sets an immune response in motion to kill surviving tumor cells. Researchers report the technique has yielded promising results in an animal study, and human trials are expected to begin within the year. In the animal study, dendritic cells were injected into tumors that contained tumor cells exposed to radiation and others that were not exposed. Dendritic cells, elements of the immune system, clean up foreign proteins and identify them as invaders for the immune system's T-cells to attack. Results of the study show animals that received the dendritic cell treatment lived considerably longer than animals that did not receive the new treatment.

SOURCE: Journal of Immunotherapy; 2003;26:107-116

Sleep for Kids

More or less sleep for kids?                                                 Back to Features

Sleeping for an hour more than usual can have a significant effect on the alertness and cognitive function of children. Studies of sleep deprivation have found that a reduced amount of sleep can significantly impair the part of the brain that helps people organize, prioritize and stay focused on tasks. Researchers found children who got an extra hour of sleep had more night awakenings and a reduced percentage of sleep. Those children who had an hour less sleep had fewer night awakenings and a higher percentage of sleep. However, the children who slept an hour less reported a higher amount of fatigue in the evening and had poor performance on the neurobehavioral tests when compared to children who slept an hour longer. Researcher says these findings suggest that moderate changes in sleep duration have detectable significant effects on children's neuropsychological functioning.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe Newswire

Morning BP!

Morning BP rise linked to stroke risk                                Back to Features 

An increase in blood pressure in the morning hours may be a warning of pending stroke in elderly people with hypertension, according to new research. The study included 519 patients with high blood pressure who were followed for 41 months. All of the patients underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and also had an MRI to determine which patients had a “silent” stroke. An indicator of silent stroke is a lesion on the brain that is detectable in an MRI. Researchers determined the morning blood pressure surge by measuring the average systolic blood pressure during the two hours after waking up in the morning. They subtracted from that the average systolic blood pressure during one hour at night that included the lowest sleeping blood pressure. After determining these numbers, the participants were divided into two groups. One group included 53 patients who had a morning blood pressure surge increase of 55 millimeters of mercury or greater. The second group included the other 466 patients who had an increase less than 55 millimeters of mercury. Researchers say the participants who had the morning surge were more likely to have multiple “silent” strokes than the participants in the other group. Specifically, 57 percent in the first group had a silent stroke compared to 33 percent in the second group. Furthermore, 19 percent of those in the morning surge group suffered a stroke during the follow-up period compared to 7 percent in the second group.

SOURCE: Circulation, 2003;107:1401-1405, Circulation, 2003;107:1347

COPD & Death

  Risk of Death in COPD Patients                                         Back to Features

COPD is currently the fourth-leading cause of death in the world. A new study finds besides airflow limitation, exercise capacity and health status are significantly related to the risk of death from COPD. Researchers conducted a study to determine if exercise capacity and health status are also related to mortality in patients with COPD. The study included 144 men who had stable COPD. All were evaluated for their pulmonary function, health status, and exercise capability using a number of questionnaires. After five years, researchers say 31 of the men died. Researchers analyzed the aforementioned evaluations to see how they correlated with the death of these men. Researchers say it is clear airflow limitation is a significant factor to predict mortality from COPD. However, they also found exercise capacity and health status had significant relationships to mortality independent of airflow limitation or age. Specifically, laboratory exercise capacity using the cycle test was the most significant predictor of mortality. Researchers of the study say it is clear from this research that a multidimensional evaluation of disease severity in COPD patients is needed to determine the risk of mortality.

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2003;167:544-549

Down Syndrome!

 Testing for Down Syndrome                                           Back to Feature

A new study suggests more cases of Down syndrome could be identified during pregnancy if all pregnant women underwent a test during the second trimester to assess four substances in the blood associated with the condition. Women testing positive can then undergo amniocentesis or other tests to determine if their baby carries the genetic abnormality that causes Down’s. Investigators screened nearly 50,000 pregnancies over five years with the quadruple serum test. Of the 88 Down syndrome pregnancies found in the group, 81 percent were identified by the test. Women who tested positive were offered traditional amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, two tests normally used to confirm a Down syndrome diagnosis. The 81-percent detection rate compares to a 51-percent detection rate expected by women initially screened based on maternal age alone. (Older women are considered at higher risk for having Down syndrome babies. The quadruple test also had a lower false-positive rate than the age-related screening, 7 percent vs. 14 percent. The investigators conclude the quadruple test should be the test of choice in second trimester screening for Down syndrome

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2003;361:835-836, 794-795