18 January, 2014

High BP more dangerous for women

A new study has revealed that high blood pressure is potentially more dangerous forwomen than men.

Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for the first time found significant differences in the mechanisms that cause high blood pressure in women as compared to men.

"This is the first study to consider sex as an element in the selection of antihypertensive agents or base the choice of a specific drug on the various factors accounting for the elevation in blood pressure," lead author of the study, Carlos Ferrario, said.

Although there has been a significant decline in cardiovascular disease mortality in men during the last 20 to 30 years, the same has not held true for women, Ferrario said.

In the comparative study, 100 men and women age 53 and older with untreated high blood pressure and no other major diseases were evaluated using an array of specialized tests that indicated whether the heart or the blood vessels were primarily involved in elevating the blood pressure.

The researchers found 30 to 40 per cent more vascular disease in the women compared to the men for the same level of elevated blood pressure. In addition, there were significant physiologic differences in the women's cardiovascular system, including types and levels of hormones involved in blood pressure regulation, that contribute to the severity and frequency of heart disease.

The study is published in Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

18.01.2014

High sugar ups breast cancer risk

If you are obese or diabetic and have not yet had your breasts examined, it's time to visit the doctor.

Scientists have now discovered why high bloodsugar coupled with diseases such as obesity and diabetes can raise the risk of breast and other cancers.

Mina Bissell, distinguished scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division, and her Japanese co-researchers Yasuhito Onodera and Jin-Min Nam, have shown that a dramatic increase in sugar uptake could transform normal cells into cancer cells.

"Furthermore, through a series of painstaking analysis, we have discovered two new pathways through which increased uptake ofglucose could itself activate other oncogenic pathways. This discovery provides possible new targets for diagnosis and therapeutics," said Bissell, a leading authority on breast cancer.

The three scientists examined the expression of glucose transporter proteins in human breast cells. The focus was on the glucose transporter known as GLUT3, the concentrations of which they showed are 400 times greater in malignant than in non-malignant breast cells.

The study was carried out using a 3D culture assay -- an investigative or analytic procedure in labs -- developed earlier by Bissell and her group for mouse mammary cells and later with her collaborator, Ole Petersen, for human breast cells. The assay enables actual reproduction of breast cells to form structural units and for malignant cells to form tumour-like colonies.

"Our work highlights the importance of the context in studying pathways involved in tissue-specificity and disease, and sheds additional light on the relationship between metabolic diseases and cancer," Onodera explained.

The study also confirmed the efficacy of anti-diabetic drugs, such as metformin -- which lower blood glucose levels -- in lowering cancer risks and mortality.

The results of the study have appeared in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

18.01.2014

Accept or change; bitter or better, love or selfishness. These are the options in life that will define our character

 Geraldine Vermaak