UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Published: Dec. 31, 2007 at 6:58 PM
Genetic possibility for anorexia found
FALMER, England, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A British study of Swedish twins found an overproduction of estrogen may affect the baby's brain, making the child more susceptible to anorexia.
Psychiatrists studying the eating disorder reviewed records of Swedish twins, finding the risk of developing anorexia was higher in girl twins than in boy twins, The Times of London reported.
Claims that girls who become anorexic were influenced by images of rake-thin models weren't disproved by the University of Sussex study. It did suggest, however, that genetics may be involved.
Marco Procopio, one of the study's authors, said health professionals know women are more likely to develop anorexia "and this study goes a long way to explaining why."
He noted that estrogen and other hormones "can have a powerful effect on the body and it would seem that there is an 'over-expression' of estrogen by the mother and the girl twin in some pregnancies."
While estrogen is needed in development of females, "it is possible that too much affects the structure of the brain." Procopio said.
The study supports U.S. research finding that the brains of anorexics behaved differently.
The findings appeared in the latest edition of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Cancer-fighting agent found in beer
MUNICH, Germany, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A key ingredient of beer may contain a cancer-fighting substance, a German study indicated.
Studies indicated xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a family of enzymes that can trigger the cancer process, as well as help the body detoxify carcinogens, science newswire Ivanhoe reported Monday. Preliminary studies at Oregon State University show that xanthohumol can kill breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancers.
"It's very healthy. I think the ingredients in the beer are very good," Werner Back of Brewing Technology at the Technical University of Munich.
Xanthohumol contains more powerful antioxidants than vitamin E and some studies indicate it helps reduce oxidation of bad cholesterol, the newswire reported.
"Xanthohumol has been shown to be a very active substance against cancer," said Markus Herrmann , also in Munich. "It comes in small sticky beads, which you find within the hops."
But don't frost that mug just yet. It would take 60 regular beers to equal the amount of xanthohumol German researchers are able to brew in their one super beer.
Obesity can affect transplant wait time
BALTIMORE, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Some obese people spend a longer time on kidney transplant waiting lists than people within normal weight ranges, a U.S. study shows.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said morbidly obese people -- those more than 100 pounds above their ideal weight -- were on transplant waiting lists for five years, two years longer than patients of normal weight, Ivanhoe Newswire reported.
Study author Dr. Dorry Segev said research indicated obese patients might be turned down because of added cost and poorer outcomes associated with transplants in overweight patients.
"Patients understandably believe that being placed on the transplant waiting list is an implicit promise of fair, unbiased treatment under a transparent allocation scheme," said Segev, a transplant surgeon. "Unfortunately, the system that has been established nationally may not be living up to that promise."
The findings may have an economic basis as well, Segev said. Medicare, the main insurer for kidney transplants, pays a set amount for the operation, regardless of the patient's overall health and costs associated with the procedure, which could increase with obese patients.
The findings were reported in the recent Journal of the American Society of Nephrology Online.
NOAA: 2007 a Top 10 year, temp-wise
ASHVILLE, N.C., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The year 2007 could be one of the 10 warmest years for the contiguous United States and the globe since records have been kept, meteorologists said.
Globally, the surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be fifth warmest since records began being kept, Science Daily reported Monday.
The preliminary annual average temperature for 2007 across the lower 48 states will likely be just more than 54 degrees, about 1.5 degrees higher than the 20th century average of 52.8 degrees, said the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The data establish 2007 as the eighth warmest on record in the continental United States since such information began being kept in 1895.
The global temperature -- combining land and ocean surfaces -- for 2007 is expected to be near 58 degrees, making it the fifth warmest year since records began in 1880, NOAA said.
Information on 2007 temperatures will be updated in January to include the last three weeks of December. A full analysis will be done in the spring.
FALMER, England, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A British study of Swedish twins found an overproduction of estrogen may affect the baby's brain, making the child more susceptible to anorexia.
Psychiatrists studying the eating disorder reviewed records of Swedish twins, finding the risk of developing anorexia was higher in girl twins than in boy twins, The Times of London reported.
Claims that girls who become anorexic were influenced by images of rake-thin models weren't disproved by the University of Sussex study. It did suggest, however, that genetics may be involved.
Marco Procopio, one of the study's authors, said health professionals know women are more likely to develop anorexia "and this study goes a long way to explaining why."
He noted that estrogen and other hormones "can have a powerful effect on the body and it would seem that there is an 'over-expression' of estrogen by the mother and the girl twin in some pregnancies."
While estrogen is needed in development of females, "it is possible that too much affects the structure of the brain." Procopio said.
The study supports U.S. research finding that the brains of anorexics behaved differently.
The findings appeared in the latest edition of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Cancer-fighting agent found in beer
MUNICH, Germany, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A key ingredient of beer may contain a cancer-fighting substance, a German study indicated.
Studies indicated xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a family of enzymes that can trigger the cancer process, as well as help the body detoxify carcinogens, science newswire Ivanhoe reported Monday. Preliminary studies at Oregon State University show that xanthohumol can kill breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancers.
"It's very healthy. I think the ingredients in the beer are very good," Werner Back of Brewing Technology at the Technical University of Munich.
Xanthohumol contains more powerful antioxidants than vitamin E and some studies indicate it helps reduce oxidation of bad cholesterol, the newswire reported.
"Xanthohumol has been shown to be a very active substance against cancer," said Markus Herrmann , also in Munich. "It comes in small sticky beads, which you find within the hops."
But don't frost that mug just yet. It would take 60 regular beers to equal the amount of xanthohumol German researchers are able to brew in their one super beer.
Obesity can affect transplant wait time
BALTIMORE, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Some obese people spend a longer time on kidney transplant waiting lists than people within normal weight ranges, a U.S. study shows.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said morbidly obese people -- those more than 100 pounds above their ideal weight -- were on transplant waiting lists for five years, two years longer than patients of normal weight, Ivanhoe Newswire reported.
Study author Dr. Dorry Segev said research indicated obese patients might be turned down because of added cost and poorer outcomes associated with transplants in overweight patients.
"Patients understandably believe that being placed on the transplant waiting list is an implicit promise of fair, unbiased treatment under a transparent allocation scheme," said Segev, a transplant surgeon. "Unfortunately, the system that has been established nationally may not be living up to that promise."
The findings may have an economic basis as well, Segev said. Medicare, the main insurer for kidney transplants, pays a set amount for the operation, regardless of the patient's overall health and costs associated with the procedure, which could increase with obese patients.
The findings were reported in the recent Journal of the American Society of Nephrology Online.
NOAA: 2007 a Top 10 year, temp-wise
ASHVILLE, N.C., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The year 2007 could be one of the 10 warmest years for the contiguous United States and the globe since records have been kept, meteorologists said.
Globally, the surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be fifth warmest since records began being kept, Science Daily reported Monday.
The preliminary annual average temperature for 2007 across the lower 48 states will likely be just more than 54 degrees, about 1.5 degrees higher than the 20th century average of 52.8 degrees, said the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The data establish 2007 as the eighth warmest on record in the continental United States since such information began being kept in 1895.
The global temperature -- combining land and ocean surfaces -- for 2007 is expected to be near 58 degrees, making it the fifth warmest year since records began in 1880, NOAA said.
Information on 2007 temperatures will be updated in January to include the last three weeks of December. A full analysis will be done in the spring.
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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NOAA: 2007 a Top 10 year, temp-wise
A crane lowers space shuttle Discovery toward the external tank and solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launcher platform in high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Flordia. The stacking and mating took place in preparation for the launch on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch on May 31, 2008. (UPI Photo/Jim Grossmann/NASA)
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