TRANSPLANTS SAVING CANCER PATIENTS' LIVES
Doctors say umbilical cord blood and bone marrow transplants can cure or slow the progression of cancers originating in the bone marrow or lymphatic system. These include leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma. More than 106,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with these life-threatening diseases each year. "Even if other treatments have produced no results, a bone marrow transplant may save the patient's life," said Dr. Patrick Stiff, director of the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. Patients unable to find a matching bone marrow donor may have an alternative with umbilical cord blood transplantation, Stiff said. A transplant provides the patient with healthy, new stem cells to develop a new immune system, doctors explain.
CITRUS MAY STAVE OFF CANCER
Animal studies show citrus fruits contain compounds that may help prevent colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Researchers at Texas A&M University showed freeze-dried grapefruit pulp, similar to whole grapefruit, reduced the rate of early colon cancer in an animal model of the disease. Another research group, at Kanazawa Medical University in Japan, found in animal studies nobiletin, a compound found in tangerines, also may act to help prevent colon cancer. The findings were presented at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia.
OBESITY SYNDROME MAY CAUSE LOSS OF SMELL
Researchers have found many people with a rare condition marked by obesity cannot detect odors. Other symptoms of the complex condition, called Bardet-Biedl syndrome, include learning difficulties, eye problems and asthma. Johns Hopkins University researchers in Baltimore say because people with the syndrome likely lose their sense of smell before or shortly after birth, it would not occur to them to mention it, and so the problem, known as anosmia, has never been reported before. New research, however, has connected the symptoms seen in patients to faulty cellular structures called cilia. The olfactory system responsible for the sense of smell is rich in celia so Nicholas Katsanis and his team decided to look into patients' ability to detect odors. A simple test showed 40 percent could not smell anything, and another 10 percent had a reduced odor-detecting ability. The findings shed light on how mutations that cause BBS upset ciliary function and provide an entire set of new tools for probing the nose, researchers said.
SUPPLEMENT MAY HELP FIGHT CHRONIC FATIGUE
A study linking over-the-counter supplement creatine and metabolic energy in humans may lead to new treatments for chronic fatigue, scientists say. "We found that creatine affects mitochondria, the parts of the cells that produce energy for all biological functioning, in normal human subjects," said Sinclair Smith, assistant professor of occupational therapy at Temple University in Philadelphia and author of the study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. The team is now looking into the connection between creatine, a popular over-the-counter supplement used by athletes to build muscle and improve performance, and energy production in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. "Many physicians still don't believe that CFS exists, making it important to investigate possible physiologic differences and to determine if we can impact metabolic function in CFS patients," Smith said. Research shows the supplements can improve muscle metabolic function and nervous system function, both of which appear weakened in people with CFS.
(Editors: For more information about CANCER, call Joanne Swanson at (708) 216-2445. For CITRUS, Michael Bernstein at (202) 872-6042. For SMELL, Joanna Downer at (410) 614-5105 or [email protected]. For SUPPLEMENT, Eryn Jelesiewicz at (215) 707-0730 or [email protected])
