Cholesterol drug may halt Parkinson's
CHICAGO, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Simvastatin, a widely used cholestrol-reducing drug, may halt the progression of Parkinson's disease, researchers in Chicago said.
In a study using mice, researchers at Chicago's Rush Medical Center found simvastatin halted the advance of biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes seen in Parkinson's, said Kalipada Pahan, a Rush professor of neurological studies.
In the brains of mice, simvastatin blocked the activity of a toxic protein called p21Ras and improved motor functions, Pahan said Thursday in the Journal of Neurosciences.
"If we are able to replicate these results in Parkinson's patients in the clinical setting, it would be a remarkable advance in the treatment of this devastating neurodegenerative disease," Pahan said.
Pahan's work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Parkinson's is a progressive disease that slows movement, stiffens limbs, unbalances the body and produces tremors. An estimated 1.2 million residents of North Americans suffer from the disease.
Wind energy loads Western power grid
PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Aging transmission lines and power stations in western U.S. states are loaded to the limit with power from wind turbines, authorities said.
Future wind projects mean the region's electrical grid must be expanded, which won't be without controversy, said Brent Fenty, who heads the Oregon Natural Desert Association, which is tracking transmission proposals.
"There's no question that we are changing the face of the state right now. And the important part is that we do that in a way that is responsible and reflects our values," Fenty told The (Portland) Oregonian.
Hundreds more wind turbine projects are planned for Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, most of them on private land. New power lines to carry that energy, however, must be built on public lands and carry a long-term impact, said Erik Fernandez, spokesman for the group Oregon Wild.
"If we do this the wrong way, there's going to be a large price tag environmentally," Fernandez said.
Less diabetes risk if moms ate vegetables
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Expectant mothers in Sweden who ate vegetables daily had children less likely to develop type 1 diabetes, researchers found.
Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Linkoping University in Sweden found of 6,000 children given blood tests, 3 percent had either elevated levels of antibodies that attack insulin-producing cells or fully developed type 1 diabetes at the age of 5.
The study, published in Pediatric Diabetes, found the diabetes risk markers were up to twice as common in children whose mothers rarely ate vegetables during pregnancy.
"This is the first study to show a link between vegetable intake during pregnancy and the risk of the child subsequently developing type 1 diabetes, but more studies of various kinds will be needed before we can say anything definitive," corresponding author Hilde Brekke of Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg said in a statement.
Brekke said it cannot be said that it's the vegetables themselves that have this protective effect, but other factors related to vegetable intake, such as the mother's standard of education, did not seem to explain the link, Brekke said.
"Nor can this protection be explained by other measured dietary factors or other known risk factors," Brekke added.
Student sickened after working with germs
BOSTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A graduate student sickened by a bacterial infection has prompted an investigation of a Boston University lab containing dangerous germs, officials said.
The student fell ill last weekend just days after conducting experiments with meningitis germs, city health officials told The Boston Globe in a story published Friday.
The lab was locked down for investigation and antibiotics dispensed to scientists who worked in the lab and with the student, The Globe reported. The sickened student, who was not publicly identified, was treated and is recovering, the university said.
The university notified city health officials within hours of recognizing the student's illness and his experiments might be linked, said Dr. Anita Barry, a disease investigator for the City of Boston.
If the student's illness proves to be linked to his lab work, the city may require the university to review it's safety procedures, Barry said.
