By GREG WINTER After vowing in a 1998 tobacco settlement to market solely to adults, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has violated the agreement by pursuing an advertising strategy that promotes youth smoking, a California judge ruled yesterday. The company was fined $20 million. Repeating the maxim "actions speak louder than words," the judge, Ronald S. Prager of Superior Court in San Diego, wrote that Reynolds's public commitment to reducing youth smoking was belied by the fact that almost as many children saw its cigarette advertisements as adults. The company places so many advertisements in magazines with "huge youth readerships," like Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone, Judge Prager ruled, that it "strains credibility" to suggest that Reynolds did not consider how many children under 18 were exposed to its cigarettes. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2217 - Posted: 06.07.2002

Tampa, FL — Intravenous injections of cells from human umbilical cord blood improved the neurological and motor function of rats recovering from severe traumatic brain injury, researchers at Henry Ford Health Sciences Center (HFHSC), Detroit, and the University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, found. The study appears in tomorrow's issue of the journal Cell Transplantation, a special issue that focuses on emerging approaches in neural transplantation and brain repair. It is one of several articles exploring the therapeutic potential of human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells as an alternative to embryonic stem cells. While studies of cellular therapies continue to grow in importance, the emphasis has been on neurological diseases like Parkinson's disease and stroke, and, more recently, on spinal cord injury.

Keyword: Stem Cells; Parkinsons
Link ID: 2216 - Posted: 06.24.2010

DALLAS, June 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered that a certain protein is required for neurological development in frogs, a finding that could advance scientists' understanding of human development. The work, published in today's edition of Developmental Cell, was conducted in the lab of Dr. Jonathan M. Graff, assistant professor in the Center for Developmental Biology and senior author of the paper. Graff's team reports that when the protein Smad10 is absent from frog embryos, the tadpoles that develop never form nervous systems. Smad10 is a member of a family of proteins that act as signal carriers between cells. When Smad10 was absent from the frog embryos, the chemical signals that program stem cells to form nerve tissue apparently could not be relayed.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 2215 - Posted: 06.07.2002

SAN DIEGO - Moving objects just by thinking. That's something people do almost every time they move their bodies. Scientific work over the last 20 years has shown how neurons in the brain behave when we move our arms. More recently, this work has led to demonstrations of technology that may restore movement to the immobile. Reporting in the Friday, June 7, issue of the journal, Science, scientists from The Neurosciences Institute here, in conjunction with the Department of Bioengineering at Arizona State University, have recently examined arrays of electrodes implanted in the cerebral cortex of monkeys. They record the electrical discharges of 50-80 individual brain cells as a small sample of the billions of neurons that communicate with each other during movement. The signals intercepted by these electrodes are sent to a computer where they are 'decoded' or matched to different arm movements. This code is saved in the computer, and used by the animal to move a ball or spherical cursor through a virtual space to a specified target without using its arms. Monkeys 'learn' this task by changing the way these neurons code for movement direction.

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 2214 - Posted: 06.07.2002

People who have impaired movement after a stroke may benefit from a treatment in which the unaffected arm helps the other to improve. A study published in a leading medical journal suggests that patients using the technique did better than those using other rehabilitation methods. During a stroke, the blood supply to a small area of the brain is interrupted, causing tissue damage. This can affect movement on one side of the body, while leaving the other side intact. Recovery can be slow, and some patients will never regain full movement. Researchers at the Centre for Exercise Science at the University of Florida used a technique in which electrical stimulation is used to boost the patient's efforts to move his or her affected arm. (C) BBC

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 2213 - Posted: 06.07.2002

By ANAT MAYTAL Crimson Staff Writer Women with too little body fat can be infertile and not even realize it, according to a Harvard School of Public Health expert. Rose Frisch, associate professor of population sciences, published a study included in her recent book, Female Fertility and the Body Fat Connection, that found combining a low-fat diet with constant exercise can affect a woman’s ability to conceive, even if she appears perfectly healthy and is still menstruating. “Losing as little as 10-15 percent of body fat even with normal weight and height can make women infertile,” said Frisch, who has studied the relationship between body weight and fertility for 20 years. Copyright © 2002, The Harvard Crimson Inc.

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Obesity
Link ID: 2212 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Blood vessels in retina could warn of dementia, Alzheimer's By Ed Edelson HealthScoutNews Reporter HealthScoutNews) -- The poetic idea that the eyes are a window into the heart has long been taken seriously by cardiologists. They know that abnormalities of the tiny blood vessels of the retina can indicate similar problems with blood vessels inside the body, problems that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. A new study carries the idea further, saying that retinal blood vessels might be used for early detection of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive problems and might open a new path toward treatment of them. "The blood vessels at the retina provide a window to look directly at changes in the small arteries in the brain," explains Dr. Tien Yin Wong, the study's lead author and a professor of ophthalmology at the National University of Singapore. "Thus, changes in the retinal arteries, termed retinal microvascular abnormalities, may be linked to similar vessel changes in the brain." Copyright © 2002 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Vision
Link ID: 2211 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— HHMI researchers have identified a molecular malfunction that causes a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), an inherited disease that causes progressive loss of vision and ultimately blindness. Mutations in any one of 19 genes can cause RP. Although the researchers studied a specific mutation that alters only one of the 19 genes, their studies may offer a broad explanation for how the rod photoreceptor cells in the eye slowly die, which can ultimately lead to blindness. The studies were reported in an article published in the April 11, 2002, issue of the journal Neuron by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator William N. Zagotta and lead author Matthew C. Trudeau, both of whom are at the University of Washington Medical School. ©2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Vision
Link ID: 2210 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service Israel has become only the second non-European country to report a case of mad cow disease. The likely route of infection, via contaminated feed, suggests there may be many more. Initial positive BSE tests in a cow in the Golan Heights came in May but have now been confirmed by the World Organisation for Animal Health in Paris. The 10-year-old Israeli Holstein was part of a kibbutz herd and showed clinical symptoms of BSE for two days before it died. The cow's age, and the short symptom duration are both unusual. Most cases of BSE have been in cattle aged four to five years, and symptoms have lasted for weeks or months before death. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 2209 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The Indiana University School of Medicine is one of six institutions in the nation participating in the National Institutes of Health clinical trial of a new, non-invasive surgical procedure to eliminate epileptic seizures due to intractable epilepsy. "This is the first clinical trial in the United States of this promising treatment for epilepsy," says Paul DesRosiers, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology and the principal investigator of the IU School of Medicine trial. "As many as 10 patients will be treated at IU in this trial which is designed to determine the most effective radiation dose for eliminating the seizure focus in the brain." Currently, the only approved treatments involve medication or invasive surgery. This new radiosurgery protocol uses the Gamma Knife to focus 201 beams of gamma radiation on the precise location of the brain responsible for the seizures. Copyright © 1995-2002 ScienceDaily Magazine

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 2208 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NEW ORLEANS – Six-month-old hearing infants exposed to American Sign Language (ASL) for the first time prefer it to pantomime, lending new evidence that humans show a broad preference for languages over "non-languages," according to a University of Washington researcher who will present her findings here Friday at the annual convention of the American Psychological Society. "Infants seem to be set up to pay attention to language at birth and we've seen they have a remarkable sensitivity to spoken language. This work is important because it broadens this bias to include an unfamiliar language in a completely unique modality," said Ursula Hildebrandt, a UW doctoral student in psychology, who will outline her research in a poster session. "It suggests that there may be something in all languages, both spoken and signed, that is interesting to infants."

Keyword: Language; Hearing
Link ID: 2207 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 United Press International By STEVE MITCHELL, UPI Medical Correspondent - Marijuana appears to be very effective for treating pain and a variety of other conditions, particularly in patients who have not been helped by prescription drugs, its advocates claim, despite the debate about the legality of using the drug as a medication. "It's a very effective medication for many people who have failed to get good results from standard medications and that's why so many people are devoted to it and risking their lives and career to get this drug," Ethan Russo, a neurologist in private practice in Missoula, Mont., who has studied medicinal marijuana, told United Press International. Nine states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington - have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes, but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has been raiding centers distributing the drug in California. This has resulted in patients, who the raids left unable to obtain marijuana, filing a lawsuit against DEA alleging the raids were unconstitutional. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Pain & Touch
Link ID: 2206 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists have developed a program to train computers to scan faces and spot genetic syndromes. They hope that by looking for specific facial traits the computer will help aid doctors with little experience of the conditions to be able to diagnose them. Using a series of two dimensional full face photographs the computer has been trained to spot rare conditions like Cornelia de Lange, Fragile X and Williams-Beuren syndromes. Charities are now hopeful that it will help doctors spot conditions at a much earlier stage. (C) BBC

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 2205 - Posted: 06.05.2002

By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D. Everyone knows that creative geniuses are all mad. At least that is what the time-honored notion linking creativity and mental illness holds. Recently, this was underscored by "A Beautiful Mind," the film about the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician Dr. John Forbes Nash Jr., who struggled with schizophrenia. Bedeviled by hallucinations and delusions, Dr. Nash is seen scribbling mathematical formula on his Princeton dorm window and doing pioneering work on game theory in a pub. But in real life, Dr. Nash accomplished his greatest mathematics before his illness really took hold. As a psychiatrist, I have treated several highly creative people, all relieved to be rid of the symptoms of their mental illnesses. So I was feeling confident when it came to understanding the connection between mental illness and creativity. Simply put, psychiatric illness rarely confers creativity and treatment would not impair it. At least, that was my cherished theory until I met Sheryl. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Intelligence
Link ID: 2204 - Posted: 06.05.2002

Head Start programs designed for infants and toddlers from low-income families enhance thinking, language, and behavior by age 3, according to the first evaluation of Early Head Start graduates. What's more, the program fosters parenting practices that support healthy development. Although the long-term effects of the program are unknown, many experts think that the combined impact on both children and their parents may mean the benefits will accumulate. Early Head Start, an extension of the decades-old Head Start program, was established in 1995 on a wave of academic and political interest in brain development during early childhood. Early Head Start offers services such as classes for children and parents, health care, nutrition education, and family counseling. Around the country, 55,000 children take part--a small fraction of those eligible. Copyright © 2002 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 2203 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Australian research has led to clinical trials of a drug that could provide a painless and non-destructive way to treat blindness in diabetics. The University of Melbourne-led pre-clinical research prompted the world-wide, multi-centre clinical trial following the announcement of their results at an international conference last year. The drug blocks a crucial pathway whose end products cause blindness and eye damage in diabetics, the leading cause of new blindness in adults around the world. The trial will begin later this year. The research team's success also caught the attention of funding agencies. The US-based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world's leading non-profit, non-governmental funder of diabetes research and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) have granted the University of Melbourne team $4.7 million in funding over five years. The funds will help refine their understanding of the chemical pathways that lead to blindness (diabetic retinopathy) and kidney failure (diabetic nephropathy) in diabetics and to find new drugs to combat the disease.

Keyword: Vision; Obesity
Link ID: 2202 - Posted: 06.05.2002

By Jim Kling UPI Science Writer From the Science & Technology Desk The drug methamphetamine dramatically increases the ability of feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV, to reproduce itself in a type of brain cell in cats, new research reveals. If the finding holds true in humans, it could help explain why AIDS progresses more rapidly in drug abusers. FIV is a close relative to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The research team, led by Michael Podell, professor veterinary clinical sciences and neurosciences at Ohio State University in Columbus, had been investigating cats as animal models for the neurological stages of HIV infection in humans. In late stages of the disease, infection of brain cells often causes dementia. Copyright © 2002 United Press International

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 2201 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Fondness for Plants And Animals May Be Hard-wired, Healthy By Beth Baker Special to The Washington Post Intuitively, we know something in us responds to nature, even as most of us live our workaday lives further and further removed from flora and fauna. Why else are adolescents with depression, substance abuse, attention deficit disorder and other behavioral and psychological problems referred to more than three dozen "wilderness therapy" programs around the country? Why, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, did authorities put "comfort" dogs on the boat ferrying victims' families and rescue workers to the World Trade Center site? © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Stress; Depression
Link ID: 2200 - Posted: 06.24.2010

With Recent Studies Taking Some of the Glow Off HRT, What Other Choices Do Women Have for Symptoms of Menopause? By Sally Squires Washington Post Staff Writer Recent research has cast critical new light on estrogen replacement therapy, which over the past few decades has been prescribed to one in three menopausal women seeking relief from hot flashes, vaginal dryness and bone loss. Given the treatment's purported extra benefits, ranging from heart health to improved mood, the decision to take estrogen was often easy. But that common practice is now being called into question. First came a study casting doubt on the ability of estrogen to prevent and treat heart disease. Other research questioned whether estrogen helps protect against Alzheimer's disease. As continuing research clarifies estrogen's corresponding risks, women and their doctors are looking with new urgency at the question of how -- and whether -- to treat symptoms of menopause. "Women come into my office these days, and look me straight in the eye, and say, 'Are you for or against estrogen?' " says Wolf Utian, executive director of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) and a consultant to the Cleveland Clinic. "It's like saying, 'Are you a Republican or a Democrat?' I'm not for or against estrogen replacement therapy. It's just one of the tools that I have at my disposal." © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 2199 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By ERIC NAGOURNEY Cocaine overdose deaths have often been linked to the drug's ability to raise the body temperature through a jolt to the metabolism. But a study released yesterday reports that it is more complicated than that. Not only does cocaine raise the body temperature, researchers wrote in The Annals of Internal Medicine, it also diminishes the body's ability to cool itself down. It even makes it hard for users to tell that they are overheating and, perhaps, take steps to stop it, like seeking a cooler location. "It really is a double-edged sword," said the lead author, Dr. Craig G. Crandall of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 2198 - Posted: 06.04.2002