news 2009

Analysis of human remains buried in the 1st century 'Tomb of the Shroud? in Jerusalem has revealed evidence of ancient leprosy and tuberculosis. The new research, involving UCL researchers, is published in the journal PLoS One today. This is the first time that a 1st century tomb from Jerusalem has been investigated by molecular methods.

PA321/09 Scientists have discovered five genetic variants that are associated with the health of the human lung. The research by an international consortium of 96 scientists from 63 centres in Europe and Australia sheds new light on the molecular basis of lung diseases. The new findings provide hope for better treatment for lung diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma.

Treating suspected cases of swine flu with tamiflu in patients who are otherwise healthy provides no real benefit, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham. In research published on bmj.com, Professor Nick Freemantle and Melanie Calvert found that oseltamivir, or tamiflu, the drug used to treat the H1N1 stain of the flu virus, does not necessarily prevent complications of the virus in otherwise healthy patients.

Getting the correct balance of proteins in our diet may be more important for healthy ageing than reducing calories, new research at UCL suggests. The new study may help explain why 'dietary restriction? (also known as calorie restriction) ' reducing food intake whilst maintaining sufficient quantities of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients ' appears to have health benefits.

The geologic conditions that very nearly annihilated life 250 million years ago are still killing people today. Parts of Xuan Wei County in Yunnan Province in China have the world"€ s highest known death rates from lung cancer in non-smoking women. For thirty years the region, which uses locally mined coal for domestic cooking and heating, has been the focus of intense scientific research to establish a cause.

Treating patients who suffer from narrowing of the main blood vessel to the kidney by inserting a metal stent provides little or no worthwhile clinical benefit, and given the risk of serious complications it should be used less, according to an international trial led by the University of Birmingham.

Combination therapies to tackle multiple changes in the brain may be needed to combat the growing problem of dementia in ageing societies, according to a study by the University of Sheffield. The findings, which were published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, show that multiple abnormal (pathological) processes in the brain are often involved in cases of dementia, and that the drugs currently in development to treat individual brain pathologies may have a limited impact on the overall burden of dementia in the population.

Press Release Links: The long-held theory that our brains use different mechanisms for forming long-term and short-term memories has been challenged by new research from UCL, published today in PNAS . Neuroscientists formed this theory based on observation of patients with amnesia, a condition that severely disrupts the ability to form long-lasting memories.

Links: UCL researchers were part of the team to discover that mutations in either of two related genes can cause a severe form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in young children. Erik Glocker (UCL Infection & Immunity) said: 'This discovery is a milestone in research on inflammatory bowel disease, and will enable us to gain further insights into the physiology and immunity of the intestine.' Glocker found the first mutation in the protein IL10R2 identified in the study.

A drug used to treat Parkinson's disease will be trialled as a treatment for stroke patients working to regain mobility and independence, in the first large scale study of its kind. A collaborative team of researchers will investigate the impact of combining the drug L-dopa with conventional physiotherapy and occupational therapy to increase stroke patients' ability to relearn fundamental activities such as walking.

PA 281/09 Children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to experiment with drugs in their teens, the findings of a new study suggest. Research carried out by The University of Nottingham and a number of Canadian Universities found that children exposed to cigarette smoke in the womb were more likely to experiment with drugs, such as alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, during adolescence.

People who eat a diet laden with processed and high-fat foods may put themselves at greater risk of depression, according to UCL research published today. The research team, led by Tasnime Akbaraly (UCL Epidemiology and Public Health), also found that eating a 'whole food? diet with plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit and fish could help prevent the onset of depressive symptoms in middle age.

The research, published online on 18 October 2009 in the journal Nature Chemistry has identified an imaging agent, which will enable scientists to understand the processes that occur within living cells and help develop new treatments for a range of diseases, including cancer. The imaging agent has helped to easily identify four-stranded DNA structures within the nucleus of cells, known as quadruplexes.

People with common mental disorders are at increased risk of becoming obese, according to new UCL research. Professor Mika Kivimäki of UCL Epidemiology & Public Health led research published today on the website of the British Medical Journal that shows that individuals with chronic or repeat episodes of common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are particularly at risk of becoming obese.

UCL scientists have extended the lifespan of mice by up to a fifth and cut the number of age-related diseases the animals suffer. The research which mimics the health benefits of reducing calorie intake and suggests that drug treatments for ageing and age-related diseases are feasible. In the 1930s scientists showed that reducing the calorie intake of laboratory rats while maintaining sufficient vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients in the animals can have health benefits.

A large-scale survey to find out what it is really like living with coeliac disease will be launched by researchers at the University of Birmingham. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues in response to the presence of gluten, found in wheat, barley & rye.

Flu can trigger heart attacks and cause cardiovascular death, but the influenza vaccine may offer protection for cardiac patients, according to a review by scientists from the UCL Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology published in the October edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases . The cardiac complications of influenza infection are well known.

PA 230/09 The University of Nottingham has played a crucial role in the discovery of two new genes associated with Alzheimer's disease. The results from the largest ever Alzheimer's genome-wide association study (GWAS) have been described by the Alzheimer's Research Trust as a leap forward for dementia research and could provide valuable new leads in the race to find treatments and possible cures for the disease.

PA 226/09 New research at The University of Nottingham could help prevent the harmful blood clots associated with heart disease and stroke, the single greatest cause of disease-related death worldwide. Scientists have gained new insights into the coagulation of blood in a study which could pave the way for new treatments aimed at preventing thrombosis — clots in the blood that obstruct the flow of blood through the circulatory system — as well as treatment of the inherited bleeding disorder thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have discovered a previously unknown step in early inflammation which is controlled by omega -3 and omega -6 fatty acids, potentially leading to clarification around conflicting health and diet advice on these two essential nutrients. Ed Rainger, from the Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences at the University, has revealed how omega 3 fatty acids from dietary fish oil can block a previously unknown step in blood vessel inflammation.