Gut bacteria linked to obesity

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified 26 species of bacteria in the human gut microbiota that appear to be linked to obesity and related metabolic complications. These include insulin resistance, high blood sugar levels, increased blood pressure and high cholesterol, known collectively as "the metabolic syndrome," which significantly increases an individual’s risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

"We identified 26 species of bacteria that were correlated with obesity and metabolic syndrome traits such as body mass index (BMI), triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose levels and C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation," says the senior author, Claire M. Fraser, Ph.D., professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology and director of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We can’t infer cause and effect, but it’s an important step forward that we're starting to identify bacteria that are correlated with clinical parameters, which suggests that the gut microbiota could one day be targeted with medication, diet or lifestyle changes."The results of the study, which analyzed data from the Old Order Amish in Lancaster County, Pa., are being published online on Aug. 15, 2012, in PLOS ONE, which is published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS One). The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (UH2/UH3 DK083982, U01 GM074518 and P30 DK072488)

Dr. Fraser says that additional research, including an interventional study with the Amish, is essential. "We can look at whether these bacteria change over time in a given individual or in response to diet or medication," she says.

Dr. Fraser notes that the research team, led by Margaret L. Zupancic, Ph.D., then a postdoctoral fellow at IGS, also found an apparent link between the gut bacteria and inflammation, which is believed to be a factor in obesity and many other chronic diseases. "This is one of the first studies of obesity in humans to make a link between inflammatory processes and specific organisms that are present in the GI tract," Dr. Fraser says, noting that participants with metabolic syndrome who had elevated serum markers associated with inflammation tended to have the lowest levels of good bacteria that have been reported previously to have anti-inflammatory properties.

The study is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Dr. Fraser and Alan R. Shuldiner, M.D., in connection with the NIH’s Human Microbiome Project, which seeks to characterize microbial communities in the body. Dr. Shuldiner, associate dean for personalized medicine and director of the Program in Personalized and Genomic Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, operates an Amish research clinic in Lancaster Pa. Over the past 20 years, he and his research team have conducted more than a dozen studies with the Amish, looking for genes that may cause common diseases, such as diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

"The Old Order Amish are ideal for such studies because they are a genetically homogenous population descended from a few founder families and have a similar rural lifestyle," Dr. Shuldiner, the John L. Whitehurst Professor of Medicine, says. "We believe the results of this study are relevant to a broader population because the clinical characteristics of obesity and its complications in the Amish are no different from the general Caucasian population," he says.

E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, says, "Obesity and its related complications have become a critical public health concern, and the number of people who are now considered obese or overweight has skyrocketed. Dr. Fraser and Dr. Shuldiner are two of our most senior research-scientists and leaders in their respective fields. This study provides valuable insights into the role the bacteria in our bodies may play in obesity and the metabolic syndrome. We may ultimately be able to target the gut microbiome to help prevent or mitigate risk factors for a number of diseases."

The researchers analyzed the bacteria in fecal samples of 310 members of the Old Order Amish community, using a process that enables them to identify a marker gene that serves as a bar code for each type of bacteria. Participants in the study ranged from lean to overweight to obese; some of the obese participants also had features of the metabolic syndrome. "Our hypothesis was that we would see a different composition in the gut microbiota in lean vs. obese individuals and possibly in individuals who were obese but also had features of the metabolic syndrome."

They discovered that every individual possessed one of three different communities of interacting bacteria, each characterized by a dominant bacterial genus. Neither BMI nor any metabolic syndrome trait was specifically associated with any of these communities. Instead, differing levels of 26 less abundant bacterial species present in all individuals appeared to be linked to obesity and certain features of the metabolic syndrome.

Interestingly, researchers also analyzed people's gut bacteria by their occupation and found that those who had regular contact with livestock, such as farmers and their wives, had bacterial communities dominated by Prevotella, a type of bacteria that is also abundant in the gut microbiota of cattle and sheep. "These findings suggest that environmental exposure may play a role in determining the composition of the gut microbiota in humans," Dr. Fraser says.

University of Maryland Medical Center (2012, August 15). Gut bacteria linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 26, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2012/08/120815174902.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

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Scientists Can Now Block Heroin, Morphine Addiction

In a major breakthrough, an international team of scientists has proven that addiction to morphine and heroin can be blocked, while at the same time increasing pain relief.

Photp: Jens Langner at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PET-image.jpg

Laboratory studies have shown that the drug (+)-naloxone (pronounced: PLUS nal-OX-own) will selectively block the immune-addiction response.The team from the University of Adelaide and University of Colorado has discovered the key mechanism in the body's immune system that amplifies addiction to opioid drugs.

The results -- which could eventually lead to new co-formulated drugs that assist patients with severe pain, as well as helping heroin users to kick the habit -- will be published August 16 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

"Our studies have shown conclusively that we can block addiction via the immune system of the brain, without targeting the brain's wiring," says the lead author of the study, Dr Mark Hutchinson, ARC Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide's School of Medical Sciences.

"Both the central nervous system and the immune system play important roles in creating addiction, but our studies have shown we only need to block the immune response in the brain to prevent cravings for opioid drugs."

The team has focused its research efforts on the immune receptor known as Toll-Like receptor 4 (TLR4).

"Opioid drugs such as morphine and heroin bind to TLR4 in a similar way to the normal immune response to bacteria. The problem is that TLR4 then acts as an amplifier for addiction," Dr Hutchinson says.

"The drug (+)-naloxone automatically shuts down the addiction. It shuts down the need to take opioids, it cuts out behaviours associated with addiction, and the neurochemistry in the brain changes -- dopamine, which is the chemical important for providing that sense of 'reward' from the drug, is no longer produced."

Senior author Professor Linda Watkins, from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, says: "This work fundamentally changes what we understand about opioids, reward and addiction. We've suspected for some years that TLR4 may be the key to blocking opioid addiction, but now we have the proof.

"The drug that we've used to block addiction, (+)-naloxone, is a non-opioid mirror image drug that was created by Dr Kenner Rice in the 1970s. We believe this will prove extremely useful as a co-formulated drug with morphine, so that patients who require relief for severe pain will not become addicted but still receive pain relief. This has the potential to lead to major advances in patient and palliative care," Professor Watkins says.

The researchers say clinical trials may be possible within the next 18 months.

This study has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the United States and the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Source: University of Adelaide (2012, August 14). Scientists can now block heroin, morphine addiction. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2012/08/120814213246.htm

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Half of Inhaled Soot Particles from Diesel Exhaust, Fires Gets Stuck in the Lungs

The exhaust from diesel-fueled vehicles, wood fires and coal-driven power stations contains small particles of soot that flow out into the atmosphere. The soot is a scourge for the climate but also for human health. Now for the first time, researchers have studied in detail how diesel soot gets stuck in the lungs. The results show that more than half of all inhaled soot particles remain in the body. (Credit: © Imagenatural / Fotolia)

The figure is higher than for most other types of particles. For example "only" 20 per cent of another type of particle from wood smoke and other biomass combustion gets stuck in the lungs. One explanation is that diesel soot is made up of smaller particles and can therefore penetrate deeper into the lungs, where it is deposited. The study was made on diesel particles (which mainly consist of soot) and was recently published in the Journal of Aerosol Science. Ten healthy people volunteered for the the study.

"Findings of this kind can be extremely useful both for researchers to determine what doses of soot we get into our lungs out of the amount we are exposed to, and to enable public authorities to establish well-founded limits for soot particles in outdoor air," says Jenny Rissler, researcher in aerosol technology at Lund University's Faculty of Engineering and responsible for publishing the study.

In population studies, other researchers have been able to observe that people who live in areas with high concentrations of particulates are more affected by both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. But since there is no conclusive evidence that it is precisely the soot that is to blame, the authorities have so far not taken any decisions on guidelines.

"Currently there is no specific limit for soot particles in the air, despite the fact that soot in the air is linked to both lung cancer and other diseases," says Jenny Rissler.

But Jenny Rissler thinks that in the future, limits on soot levels will also be set, with reference to the WHO's recent reclassification of diesel exhaust from "probably carcinogenic" to "carcinogenic."

Soot particles are not only connected to effects on health but may also contribute to a warmer climate. Paradoxically, other types of aerosol particles can partly be desirable, insofar as they have a cooling effect on the climate and thereby mitigate the warming effect of carbon dioxide.

"Soot particles are black and absorbs light, thus producing a warming effect. So it could be a double advantage to reduce it," she observes.

Jenny Rissler will next be studying individual variations in lung deposition and exposing cells to soot. She is also in the process of further developing methods to measure the surface area of the particles, as this has shown to be an important indicator of their harmfulness.

Background: Every time we breathe, we inhale tiny airborne particles, so-called aerosol particles. Some occur naturally, while others are the result of human activity. Soot mainly belongs in the latter category, as a by-product of combustion from power stations to small-scale wood fires and decorative candles. Another common source of soot is the exhaust from diesel engines, even though modern diesel cars have considerably reduced emissions thanks to efficient filters.

The EU will be tightening rules on emissions for heavy duty diesel vehicles in 2014.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided byLund University.

Jenny Rissler, Erik Swietlicki, Agneta Bengtsson, Christoffer Boman, Joakim Pagels, Thomas Sandström, Anders Blomberg, Jakob Löndahl. Experimental determination of deposition of diesel exhaust particles in the human respiratory tract. Journal of Aerosol Science, 2012; 48: 18 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2012.01.005

Lund University (2012, June 27). Half of inhaled soot particles from diesel exhaust, fires gets stuck in the lungs. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2012/06/120627092016.htm

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How stress can boost the immune system

The study's findings provide a thorough overview of how a triad of stress hormones affects the main cell subpopulations of the immune system. They also offer the prospect of, someday, being able to manipulate stress-hormone levels to improve patients' recovery from surgery or wounds or their responses to vaccines.

You've heard it a thousand times: Stress is bad for you. And it's certainly true that chronic stress, lasting weeks and months, has deleterious effects including, notably, suppression of the immune response. But short-term stress -- the fight-or-flight response, a mobilization of bodily resources lasting minutes or hours in response to immediate threats -- stimulates immune activity, said lead author Firdaus Dhabhar, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and member of the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection.

And that's a good thing. The immune system is crucial for wound healing and preventing or fighting infection, and both wounds and infections are common risks during chases, escapes and combat.

Working with colleagues at Stanford and two other universities in a study published online June 22 inPsychoneuroendocrinology, Dhabhar showed that subjecting laboratory rats to mild stress caused a massive mobilization of several key types of immune cells into the bloodstream and then onto destinations including the skin and other tissues. This large-scale migration of immune cells, which took place over a time course of two hours, was comparable to the mustering of troops in a crisis, Dhabhar said. He and colleagues had previously shown that a similar immune-cell redistribution in patients experiencing the short-term stress of surgery predicts enhanced postoperative recovery.

In the new study, the investigators were able to show that the massive redistribution of immune cells throughout the body was orchestrated by three hormones released by the adrenal glands, in different amounts and at different times, in response to the stress-inducing event. These hormones are the brain's call-to-arms to the rest of the body, Dhabhar said.

"Mother Nature gave us the fight-or-flight stress response to help us, not to kill us," said Dhabhar, who has been conducting experiments for well over a decade on the effects of the major stress hormones on the immune system. Last summer, Dhabhar received the International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology's Curt. P. Richter Award for his work in this area, culminating in the new study.

The findings paint a clearer picture of exactly how the mind influences immune activity. "An impala's immune system has no way of knowing that a lion is lurking in the grass and is about to pounce, but its brain does," Dhabhar said. In such situations, it benefits lion and impala alike when pathogen-fighting immune cells are in positions of readiness in such places as the skin and mucous membranes, which are at high risk for damage and consequent infection.

So it makes perfect evolutionary sense that predator/prey activity and other situations in nature, such as dominance challenges and sexual approaches, trigger stress hormones. "You don't want to keep your immune system on high alert at all times," Dhabhar said. "So nature uses the brain, the organ most capable of detecting an approaching challenge, to signal that detection to the rest of the body by directing the release of stress hormones. Without them, a lion couldn't kill, and an impala couldn't escape." The stress hormones not only energize the animals' bodies -- they can run faster, jump higher, bite harder -- but, it turns out, also mobilize the immune troops to prepare for looming trouble.

The response occurs across the animal kingdom, he added. You see pretty much the same pattern of hormone release in a fish that has been picked up out of the water.

The experiments in this study were performed on rats, which Dhabhar subjected to mild stress by confining them (gently, and with full ventilation) in transparent Plexiglas enclosures to induce stress. He drew blood several times over a two-hour period and, for each time point, measured levels of three major hormones -- norepinephrine, epinephrine and corticosterone (the rat analog of cortisol in humans) -- as well as of several distinct immune-cell types in the blood.

What he saw was a pattern of carefully choreographed changes in blood levels of the three hormones along with the movement of many different subsets of immune cells from reservoirs such as the spleen and bone marrow into the blood and, finally, to various "front line" organs.

To show that specific hormones were responsible for movements of specific cell types, Dhabhar administered the three hormones, separately or in various combinations, to rats whose adrenal glands had been removed so they couldn't generate their own stress hormones. When the researchers mimicked the pattern of stress-hormone release previously observed in the confined rats, the same immune-cell migration patterns emerged in the rats without adrenal glands. Placebo treatment produced no such effect.

The general pattern, Dhabhar said, was that norepinephrine is released early and is primarily involved in mobilizing all major immune-cell types -- monocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes -- into the blood. Epinephrine, also released early, mobilized monocytes and neutrophils into the blood, while nudging lymphocytes out into "battlefield" destinations such as skin. And corticosterone, released somewhat later, caused virtually all immune cell types to head out of circulation to the "battlefields."

The overall effect of these movements is to bolster immune readiness. A study published by Dhabhar and his colleagues in 2009 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery assessed patients' recovery from surgery as a function of their immune-cell redistribution patterns during the stress of the operation. Those patients in whom the stress of surgery mobilized immune-cell redistributions similar to those seen in the confined rats in the new study did significantly better afterward than patients whose stress hormones less adequately guided immune cells to appropriate destinations.

The mechanisms Dhabhar has delineated could lead to medical applications, such as administering low doses of stress hormones or drugs that mimic or antagonize them in order to optimize patients' immune readiness for procedures such as surgery or vaccination. "More study will be required including in human subjects, which we hope to conduct, before these applications can be attempted," Dhabhar said. Closer at hand is the monitoring of patients' stress-hormone levels and immune-cell distribution patterns during surgery to assess their surgical prognosis, or during immunization to predict vaccine effectiveness.

The study was funded by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Dana Foundation, the DeWitt Wallace Foundation, the Carl & Elizabeth Naumann Fund and the National Institutes of Health. The medical school's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences also supported this work. Dhabhar's co-authors were statistician Eric Neri at Stanford, and neuroendocrinologists at Ohio State University and Rockefeller University.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided byStanford University Medical Center. The original article was written by Bruce Goldman.

Stanford University Medical Center (2012, June 21). How stress can boost immune system.ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2012/06/120621223525.htm

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Women have bigger pupils than men

From an anatomical point of view, a normal, non-pathological eye is known as an emmetropic eye, and has been studied very little until now in comparison with myopic and hypermetropic eyes. The results show that healthy emmetropic women have a wider pupil diameter than men. 

The pupil regulates the amount of light that reaches the retina [Credit: Michael Dawes]

Normal, non-pathological emmetropic eyes are the most common type amongst the population (43.2%), with a percentage that swings between 60.6% in children from three to eight years and 29% in those older than 66. 

Therefore, a study determines their anatomical pattern so that they serve as a model for comparison with eyes that have refractive defects (myopia, hypermetropia and stigmatism) pathological eyes (such as those that have cataracts). 

"We know very little about emmetropic eyes even though they should be used for comparisons with myopic and hypermetropic eyes" Juan Alberto Sanchis-Gimeno, researcher at the University of Valencia and lead author of the study explains to SINC. 

The project, published in the journal 'Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy' shows the values by gender for the central corneal thickness, minimum total corneal thickness, white to white distance and pupil diameter in a sample of 379 emmetropic subjects. 

"It is the first study that analyses these anatomical indexes in a large sample of healthy emmetropic subjects" Sanchis-Gimeno states. In recent years new technologies have been developed, such as corneal elevation topography, which allows us to increase our understanding of in vivo ocular anatomy. 

Although the research states that there are no big differences between most of the parameters analysed, healthy emmetropic women have a wider pupil diameter than men. 

"It will be necessary to investigate as to whether there are differences in the anatomical indexes studied between emmetropic, myopic and hypermetropic eyes, and between populations of different ethnic origin" the researcher concludes. 

How the human eye works 

Light penetrates through the pupil, crosses the crystalline lens and is projected onto the retina, where the photoreceptor cells turn it into nerve impulses, and it is transferred through the optic nerve to the brain. Rays of light should refract so that they can penetrate the eye and can be focused on the retina. Most of the refraction occurs in the cornea, which has a fixed curvature. 

The pupil is a dilatable and contractile opening that regulates the amount of light that reaches the retina. The size of the pupil is controlled by two muscles: the pupillary sphincter, which closes it, and the pupillary dilator, which opens it. Its diameter is between 3 and 4.5 millimetres in the human eye, although in the dark it could reach up to between 5 and 9 millimetres. 

The study is published in 'Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy' 

Source: Plataforma SINC via AlphaGalileo [April 26, 2012]

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Happiness is not in the jeans

You may throw on an outfit without much thought in the morning, but your choice is strongly affected by your mood. And the item of casual wear in almost everyone's wardrobe -- denim jeans -- is what most people wear when depressed, new research from psychologists at the University of Hertfordshire reveals. 

Denim jeans is what most people wear when feeling depressed [Credit: © art_zzz / Fotolia]

A study conducted by Professor Karen Pine, co-author of "Flex: Do Something Different, found that what a woman chooses to wear is heavily dependent upon her emotional state."* One hundred women were asked what they wore when feeling depressed and more than half of them said jeans. Only a third would wear jeans when feeling happy. In a low mood a woman is also much more likely to wear a baggy top; 57% of the women said they would wear a baggy top when depressed, yet a mere 2% would wear one when feeling happy. Women also revealed they would be ten times more likely to put on a favorite dress when happy (62%) than when depressed (6%). 

The psychologists conclude that the strong link between clothing and mood state suggests we should put on clothes that we associate with happiness, even when feeling low. 

Professor Pine said: "This finding shows that clothing doesn't just influence others, it reflects and influences the wearer's mood too. Many of the women in this study felt they could alter their mood by changing what they wore. This demonstrates the psychological power of clothing and how the right choices could influence a person's happiness." 

Accessories can make a difference too. The study found that: 

• Twice as many women said they would wear a hat when happy than when depressed. 

• Five times as many women said they would wear their favorite shoes when happy (31%) than when depressed (6%). 

The study found that 'happy' clothes -- ones that made women feel good -- were well-cut, figure enhancing, and made from bright and beautiful fabrics. Professor Pine pointed out that these are exactly the features that jeans lack: "Jeans don't look great on everyone. They are often poorly cut and badly fitting. Jeans can signal that the wearer hasn't bothered with their appearance. People who are depressed often lose interest in how they look and don't wish to stand out, so the correlation between depression and wearing jeans is understandable. Most importantly, this research suggests that we can dress for happiness, but that might mean ditching the jeans." 

*FLEX: Do Something Different. How to use the other 9/10ths of your personality, by psychologists Professor Ben (C) Fletcher and Professor Karen Pine, published January 2012 by University of Hertfordshire Press. 

Source: University of Hertfordshire [March 08, 2012]

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Sexual satisfaction in women increases with age

A new study of sexually active older women has found that sexual satisfaction in women increases with age and those not engaging in sex are satisfied with their sex lives. A majority of study participants report frequent arousal and orgasm that continue into old age, despite low sexual desire. The study appears in the January issue of the American Journal of Medicine. 

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System evaluated sexual activity and satisfaction as reported by 806 older women who are part of the Rancho Bernardo Study (RBS) cohort, a group of women who live in a planned community near San Diego and whose health has been tracked for medical research for 40 years. The study measured the prevalence of current sexual activity; the characteristics associated with sexual activity including demographics, health, and hormone use; frequency of arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and pain during sexual intercourse; and sexual desire and satisfaction in older women. 

The median age in the study was 67 years and 63% were postmenopausal. Half the respondents who reported having a partner had been sexually active in the last 4 weeks. The likelihood of sexual activity declined with increasing age. The majority of the sexually active women, 67.1%, achieved orgasm most of the time or always. The youngest and oldest women in the study reported the highest frequency of orgasm satisfaction. 

40% of all women stated that they never or almost never felt sexual desire, and one third of the sexually active women reported low sexual desire. Lead investigator Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, Distinguished Professor and Chief, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, comments, "Despite a correlation between sexual desire and other sexual function domains, only 1 in 5 sexually active women reported high sexual desire. Approximately half of the women aged 80 years or more reported arousal, lubrication, and orgasm most of the time, but rarely reported sexual desire. In contrast with traditional linear model in which desire precedes sex, these results suggest that women engage in sexual activity for multiple reasons, which may include affirmation or sustenance of a relationship." 

Regardless of partner status or sexual activity, 61% of all women in this cohort were satisfied with their overall sex life. Although older age has been described as a significant predictor of low sexual satisfaction, the percentage of RBS sexually satisfied women actually increased with age, with approximately half of the women over 80 years old reporting sexual satisfaction almost always or always. Not only were the oldest women in this study the most satisfied overall, those who were recently sexually active experienced orgasm satisfaction rates similar to the youngest participants. "In this study, sexual activity was not always necessary for sexual satisfaction. Those who were not sexually active may have achieved sexual satisfaction through touching, caressing, or other intimacies developed over the course of a long relationship," says first author Susan Trompeter, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Staff Physician at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. 

"Emotional and physical closeness to the partner may be more important than experiencing orgasm. A more positive approach to female sexual health focusing on sexual satisfaction may be more beneficial to women than a focus limited to female sexual activity or dysfunction," Trompeter concludes.  

Source: Elsevier Health Sciences via EurekAlert! [January 03, 2012]

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How pregnancy changes a woman's brain

We know a lot about the links between a pregnant mother’s health, behavior, and moods and her baby’s cognitive and psychological development once it is born. But how does pregnancy change a mother’s brain? “Pregnancy is a critical period for central nervous system development in mothers,” says psychologist Laura M. Glynn of Chapman University. 

“Yet we know virtually nothing about it.” Glynn and her colleague Curt A. Sandman, of University of the California Irvine, are doing something about that. Their review of the literature in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, discusses the theories and findings that are starting to fill what Glynn calls “a significant gap in our understanding of this critical stage of most women’s lives.” 

At no other time in a woman’s life does she experience such massive hormonal fluctuations as during pregnancy. Research suggests that the reproductive hormones may ready a woman’s brain for the demands of motherhood—helping her becomes less rattled by stress and more attuned to her baby’s needs. Although the hypothesis remains untested, Glynn surmises this might be why moms wake up when the baby stirs while dads snore on. Other studies confirm the truth in a common complaint of pregnant women: “Mommy Brain,” or impaired memory before and after birth. “There may be a cost” of these reproduction-related cognitive and emotional changes, says Glynn, “but the benefit is a more sensitive, effective mother.” 

The article reviews research that refines earlier findings on the effects of the prenatal environment on the baby. For instance, evidence is accumulating to show that it’s not prenatal adversity on its own—say, maternal malnourishment or depression—that presents risks for a baby. Congruity between life in utero and life on the outside may matter more. A fetus whose mother is malnourished adapts to scarcity and will cope better with a dearth of food once it’s born—but could become obese if it eats normally. Timing is critical too: maternal anxiety early in gestation takes a toll on the baby’s cognitive development; the same high levels of stress hormones late in pregnancy enhance it. 

Just as Mom permanently affects her fetus, new science suggests that the fetus does the same for Mom. Fetal movement, even when the mother is unaware of it, raises her heart rate and her skin conductivity, signals of emotion—and perhaps of pre-natal preparation for mother-child bonding. Fetal cells pass through the placenta into the mother’s bloodstream. “It’s exciting to think about whether those cells are attracted to certain regions in the brain” that may be involved in optimizing maternal behavior, says Glynn. 

Glynn cautions that most research on the maternal brain has been conducted with rodents, whose pregnancies differ enormously from women’s; more research on human mothers is needed. But she is optimistic that a more comprehensive picture of the persisting brain changes wrought by pregnancy will yield interventions to help at-risk mothers do better by their babies and themselves. 

Source: Association for Psychological Science [December 20, 2011]

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New test to indicate likely spread or recurrence of breast cancer

A Queensland University of Technology (QUT) PhD student has developed a potential breakthrough test for predicting the likelihood of the spread or return of breast cancer. 

"While in recent years there have been fantastic advances in the treatment of breast cancer there has been no way of predicting its progress," said Helen McCosker, a PhD student at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI). 

Ms McCosker's research found that a breast cancer's interaction with its surrounding environment held the key to predicting whether it would grow, become dormant or spread to other organs. 

"The ability to predict its progress is a huge step forward as it will ultimately enable doctors to select the most appropriate treatments for individual patients," she said. 

"This test should identify those patients who need their cancer removed but require no further treatment, those who need the tumour removed but also require additional treatment, for example, chemotherapy, and those who need more vigorous treatments. 

"That will mean that patients should neither receive unnecessary treatments nor be undertreated when a more aggressive medical response is required." 

Ms McCosker said the new test would use the tissue surrounding the cancer cells, which were collected for biopsy purposes, but were currently not examined. 

"The test makes better use of tissue that's already being collected anyway, so from the patient's point of view there would be no change; no new test," she said. 

She said the next step was to develop an easy-to-use, accurate online program that doctors would use to diagnose cancer progression. 

"Ultimately, doctors should be able to key the results of the examination of tissue samples into an online program with built-in mathematical models and be presented with a clear answer as to the likelihood of cancer progression." 

She said the test would offer solutions for a wide range of patients, particularly those with more advanced, aggressive, disease that could spread to other organs as well as those in rural and remote areas with limited access to advanced medical services. 

"The next step is to seek financial backing to fine-tune and commercialise the current prototype. It's expected our models will be trialled in pathology laboratories over the coming years and if successful rolled out over the next five to 10 years," Ms McCosker said. 

Ms McCosker said the test, which is being funded by the Wesley Research Institute, should ultimately be applicable to other forms of cancer. 

She said breast cancer accounted for 28 per cent of diagnosed cancers in Australian women and 16 per cent of cancer associated deaths. 

Source: Queensland University of Technology [December 13, 2011]

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Vegetables, fruits, grains reduce stroke risk in women

Swedish women who ate an antioxidant-rich diet had fewer strokes regardless of whether they had a previous history of cardiovascular disease, in a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. 

"Eating antioxidant-rich foods may reduce your risk of stroke by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation," said Susanne Rautiainen, M.Sc., the study's first author and Ph.D. student at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. "This means people should eat more foods such as fruits and vegetables that contribute to total antioxidant capacity." 

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of cell-damaging free radicals and the body's ability to neutralize them. It leads to inflammation, blood vessel damage and stiffening. 

Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, carotenoids and flavonoids can inhibit oxidative stress and inflammation by scavenging the free radicals. Antioxidants, especially flavonoids, may also help improve endothelial function and reduce blood clotting, blood pressure and inflammation. 

"In this study, we took into account all the antioxidants present in the diet, including thousands of compounds, in doses obtained from a usual diet," Rautiainen said. Researchers collected dietary data through a food-frequency questionnaire. They used a standard database to determine participants' total antioxidant capacity (TAC), which measures the free radical reducing capacity of all antioxidants in the diet and considers synergistic effects between substances. 

Researchers categorized the women according to their TAC levels — five groups without a history of cardiovascular disease and four with previous cardiovascular disease. 

For women with no history of cardiovascular disease who had the highest TAC, fruits and vegetables contributed about 50 percent of TAC. Other contributors were whole grains (18 percent), tea (16 percent) and chocolate (5 percent). 

The study found: 

• Higher TAC was related to lower stroke rates in women without cardiovascular disease. 

• Women without cardiovascular disease with the highest levels of dietary TAC had a statistically significant 17 percent lower risk of total stroke compared to those in the lowest quintile. 

• Women with history of cardiovascular disease in the highest three quartiles of dietary TAC had a statistically significant 46 percent to 57 percent lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke compared with those in the lowest quartile. 

"Women with a high antioxidant intake may be more health conscious and have the sort of healthy behaviors that may have influenced our results," Rautiainen said. "However, the observed inverse association between dietary TAC and stroke persisted after adjustments for potential confounders related to healthy behavior such as smoking, physical activity and education." 

For the study, researchers used the Swedish Mammography Cohort to identify 31,035 heart disease-free women and 5,680 women with a history of heart disease in two counties. The women were 49-83 years old. 

Researchers tracked the cardiovascular disease-free women an average 11.5 years and the women with cardiovascular disease 9.6 years, from September 1997 through the date of first stroke, death or Dec. 31, 2009, whichever came first. 

Researchers identified 1,322 strokes among cardiovascular disease-free women and 1,007 strokes among women with a history of cardiovascular disease from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Registry. 

"To the best of our knowledge, no study has assessed the relation between dietary TAC and stroke risk in participants with a previous history of cardiovascular disease," Rautiainen said. "Further studies are needed to assess the link between dietary TAC and stroke risk in men and in people in other countries, but we think our results are applicable." 

Source: American Heart Association [December 01, 2011]

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Heart attack risk differs between men and women

Findings on coronary CT angiography (CTA), a noninvasive test to assess the coronary arteries for blockages, show different risk scenarios for men and women, according to a study presented today at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). 

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a narrowing of the blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. It is caused by a build-up of fat and other substances that form plaque on vessel walls. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. 

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina analyzed the results of coronary CTA on 480 patients, mean age 55, with acute chest pain. Approximately 65 percent of the patients were women, and 35 percent were men. The possibility of acute coronary syndrome was ruled out for each of the patients. 

Using coronary CTA, the researchers were able to determine the number of vessel segments with plaque, the severity of the blockage and the composition of the plaque. 

"The latest CT scanners are able to produce images that allow us to determine whether the plaque is calcified, non-calcified or mixed," said John W. Nance Jr., M.D., currently a radiology resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. 

By comparing the coronary CTA results with outcome data over a 12.8-month follow-up period, the researchers were able to correlate the extent, severity and type of plaque build-up with the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events, such as a heart attack or coronary bypass surgery. The statistical analysis tested all plaques combined (calcified, non-calcified and mixed) and each individual plaque type separately. 

"We found that the risks for cardiovascular events associated with plaque were significantly different between women and men," Dr. Nance said. 

Within the follow-up period, 70 of the patients experienced major adverse cardiac events, such as death, heart attack, unstable angina or revascularization. In total, 87 major adverse cardiac events occurred among the patients during the follow-up period. 

When the outcome data were correlated with the CTA combined plaque findings, the results indicated that women with a large amount of plaque build-up and extensive atherosclerosis are at significantly greater cardiovascular risk than men. 

Specifically, the risk for major adverse cardiac events was significantly higher in women than in men when extensive plaque of any kind was present or when more than four artery segments were narrowed. 

"This research tells us that extensive coronary plaque is more worrisome in women than the equivalent amount in men," Dr. Nance said. 

However, when analyzing risk factors associated with the presence of individual types of plaque, the risk for major adverse cardiac events was greater in men, compared to women, when their artery segments contained non-calcified plaque. 

Dr. Nance said the new data suggested that the atherosclerotic process, or hardening of the arteries, is not necessarily linear and that more research is needed to better understand the disease. 

"Our research confirms that coronary CTA provides excellent prognostic information that helps identify risk, but there are gender differences that need to be considered," Dr. Nance said.  

Source: Radiological Society of North America [November 30, 2011]

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Low risk? Women and young men responsible for large portion of heart attacks

In a contemporary cohort of acute heart attack patients, 70 percent of the patients were unaware they had coronary heart disease (CHD) prior to the event and 60 percent of those patients were women or young men. However, these two subgroups are less likely to qualify for aggressive preventive therapy and, therefore, do not receive preventive medications that could reduce the heart attack risk, according to a study being presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) scientific sessions in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 16. 

"For those patients with known coronary disease, the evidence and guidelines are fairly clear about the benefit of aggressive medical therapy, including an aspirin and statin, regardless of your age or gender," says Michael Miedema, MD, a cardiology fellow at the University of Minnesota working in collaboration with researchers at the Minneapolis Heart Institute® at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. "However, for patients without known coronary disease, the optimal approach is much less clear. We currently only treat high-risk patients but our data show that women and young males, who rarely qualify as high risk, make up a substantial portion of the current heart attack population." 

The researchers assessed the Minneapolis Heart Institute's Level One heart attack program to better understand the presence of premature CHD in patients without a prior history of CHD presenting to their facility with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), or an acute heart attack. 

From March 2003 to January 2010, 3,038 patients were evaluated, and 70.3 percent did not have previously diagnosed CHD prior to their heart attack and 41.7 percent qualified as premature. Despite similar rates of high cholesterol, patients with premature disease (men 55 years or younger, women 65 years or younger) were approximately half as likely to be on a statin prior to their heart attack (10.45 vs. 19.4 percent). Aspirin and combination therapy were being used significantly less often as well. 

The Framingham Risk Score is the most commonly used risk calculator, using the patient's age, gender and risk factors such as cholesterol and blood pressure to determine the potential risk for a cardiac event. However, Miedema suggests that the Framingham Risk Score is heavily weighted toward age and gender. 

"If you're an older male, you're much more likely to qualify for preventive therapy while females and younger males often do not meet criteria despite similar risk factors," Miedema says. "While older males are still the most likely group to have heart attacks, we have shown that women and patients with premature disease make up a substantial portion of the heart attacks we are seeing and very few of these patients are on the medications which research has shown to prevent heart attacks. Better methods of risk assessment could potentially allow us to target more people truly at high risk for an event and avoid excessive treatment of those who are low risk." 

Based on the study findings, the study authors concluded without improved preventive care strategies, the possibility of further decreasing the rate of STEMIs in the United States may be "challenging."  

Source: Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation [November 16, 2011]

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The serotonin system in women's brains is damaged more readily by alcohol

After only four years of problem drinking, a significant decrease in the function of the serotonin system in women's brains can be seen. This is the system that regulates such functions as impulse control and mood. It takes 12 years before a corresponding decrease is seen in men. This is the conclusion of multidisciplinary research carried out at the Department of Psychology and the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. 

The research group in the multidisciplinary project Gothenburg Alcohol Research Project (GARP) has studied for the first time three of the major neurotransmitter substances in the brain in a single individual. They have studied a group of women and a group of men with alcohol dependence. The results will be published in January 2012 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. 

"We have used what is known as neuroendocrine techniques to show that it is principally the serotonergic system in the brain that is seriously impaired by alcohol. This is the system that regulates impulse control and mood, among other functions", says Kristina Berglund, scientist at the Department of Psychology and representative for the research group. 

Both men and women suffer adverse effects, but the effects arise much more rapidly in women. The results show that the function of women's serotonin system has fallen by 50% after as little as four years with problematic alcohol consumption, while it takes 12 years before the function of men's systems is halved. 

"It is important to note that the damage is just as serious in men and women, but the time courses are different. We still don't know whether the serotonin system can repair itself, but there are research results showing that other damage to the brain can heal after a certain period without alcohol", says Ulf Berggren of the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.  

Source: University of Gothenburg [November 15, 2011]

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New Findings May Help Explain High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that the infiltration of white blood cells into an expectant mother’s blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy. 

The findings could lead to novel avenues of treatment for pregnant women with preeclampsia based on regulation of white blood cells called neutrophilis, their products or their cellular effects. 

Preeclampsia is one of the most significant health problems in pregnancy and a leading cause worldwide of both premature delivery and of sickness and death of the mother and baby. Research has shown that the blood vessels of women with preeclampsia are dysfunctional, but the cause of preeclampsia is not known, and the only treatment is delivery of the baby. 

In a study published online in the October issue of Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, the VCU team reported that an infiltration of white blood cells may be responsible for the high blood pressure observed in preeclampsia. These white blood cells release reactive oxygen species that the team showed enhance the reactivity of the mother’s blood vessels to hypertensive hormones by activating the RhoA kinase pathway in the blood vessels. Read the study here. 

According to corresponding author Scott W. Walsh, Ph.D., professor in the VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the RhoA kinase pathway is an intracellular mechanism in the smooth muscle cells of blood vessels that makes the blood vessels more reactive to hormones that increase blood pressure. 

“In other words, the blood vessels contract more easily to the hormones so blood pressure increases even though the hormone levels do not increase,” said Walsh. 

“These findings may explain the enhanced blood pressure response of women who develop preeclampsia, which was first described almost 40 years ago,” he said. 

Walsh said some potential treatments on the horizon for clinical studies are monoclonal antibodies that could prevent the infiltration of the white blood cells, and selective RhoA kinase inhibitors that could prevent the enhanced reactivity of the mother’s blood vessels. 

Source: Virginia Commonwealth University [October 31, 2011]

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Not your mother's birth control, same troubles

Today's hormonal forms of birth control are vastly different from those used by earlier generations of women, both with lower levels of hormones and with different means of delivery (not just a pill), but many of the same problems related to women's pleasure remain. 

An Indiana University study that examined how newer forms of hormonal contraception affect things such as arousal, lubrication and orgasm, found that they could still hamper important aspects of sexuality despite the family planning benefits and convenience. 

"Contraception in general is a wonderful way for women to plan their families," said lead researcher Nicole Smith, project coordinator at IU's Center for Sexual Health Promotion. "It's something women are often on for as many as 30 years or more; it plays a huge part in their life. If they're experiencing these negative effects, they might stop using contraception correctly or altogether. They need to know that there are options, such as lubricants or other sexual enhancement products that may help to alleviate some of the negative effects they are experiencing. 

"Women should also be counseled on the many highly effective forms of birth control currently available; switching to another method might work better for them," she said. 

Smith is discussing her study at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. 

The study involved 1,101 sexually active women split almost evenly between those using a hormonal form of contraception such as the pill, patch, ring or shot, and those women using a non-hormonal form, such as a condom, diaphragm, cervical cap or withdrawal. The study, based on data collected by the Kinsey Institute's Women's Well-being study, which used an online questionnaire, found that the women reported similar levels of sexual satisfaction, which included things such as intimacy and romance, but the women using hormonal contraception experienced less arousal, fewer orgasms, difficulties with lubrication, decreased pleasure and less frequent sex. 

"A great effort has been made to make condoms more pleasurable for men," Smith said. "But you don't hear about this same effort going toward reducing the negative impact of contraception on women's sexual functioning. It's just not part of the discussion." 

Researchers have examined the relationship between hormonal forms of contraception and sexual functioning but, Smith said, few studies have been conducted since the 1980s. Previous findings were inconclusive and focused on women in Europe. Her study, conducted with colleagues from CSHP and the Kinsey Institute, provides updated findings and also important information for clinicians to use when helping women with their birth control needs. Having worked for a family planning program, Smith said it is common for women to talk about negative side effects such as these with their health care provider. 

Smith said she is very interested in seeing whether women's contraception choices change when components of the federal Affordable Care Act are implemented next year, making preventive care features such as contraception free for women with insurance. This will make the more expensive, longer-acting forms of contraception available to more women, Smith said. 

Smith, a doctoral student in the Department of Applied Health Science in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, is presenting her study on Monday, Oct. 31, at 2:30 p.m. during a poster presentation at the Wasington Convention Center. Co-authors are Kristen N. Jozkowski, College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas; and Stephanie A. Sanders, IU's Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, and the Department of Gender Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.  

Source: Indiana University [October 31, 2011]

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Hepatitis transmission risk needs to be studied in nail salons, barbershops

The risk of hepatitis transmission through non-single use instruments –- such as nail files, nail brushes, finger bowls, foot basins, buffers, razors, clippers, and scissors –- during nail salon and barbershop visits cannot be excluded, according to the results of a new report unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC. 

David A. Johnson, M.D., FACG of Eastern Virginia Medical School presented an abstract which analyzed a report developed by the Virginia Department of Health entitled, "Assessment of the Risk of Bloodborne Pathogen Transmission in Nail Salons and Barber Shops and Regulatory Requirements in Virginia." Dr. Johnson's assessment of the Virginia report indicated that there might be potential transmission of bloodborne pathogens (e.g., hepatitis B and C viruses) if non-single use instruments are not fully cleaned and disinfected according to the state regulations. The Virginia Department of Health found that the current Virginia regulations (dated September 1, 2011), which require intermediate-level disinfection for non-single use items in nail salons or barbershops, are sufficient in preventing bloodborne pathogens transmission, if there is full compliance. 

"Whether there is sufficient compliance with disinfection requirements is an important variable in the safety of salon and barbershop services from a public health perspective," commented Dr. Johnson. "The risk of transmission of infectious disease, particularly hepatitis B and C, in personal care settings is significantly understudied in the United States." 

Dr. Johnson explained that a report of a case of acute hepatitis C (HCV) that was "clearly related to a manicure/pedicure treatment" prompted this evaluation of the current patient risks associated with salon exposures. 

A group coordinated by the Office of Epidemiology at the Virginia Department of Health conducted the aforementioned study. This Virginia Health Department study included a comprehensive literature search on Pubmed and Google using relevant key words such as nail salon, manicure, pedicure, barber, razor and hepatitis. Additionally, the group reviewed the safety regulations in Virginia and compared them with those in 13 other states and the District of Columbia. 

The review of the published literature identified eighteen papers, including nine case-control studies, three case-series studies, and six population-based surveys, that assessed manicure, pedicure, or barbering as potential risk factors for HBV and/or HCV infection. Of the nine case-control studies, five evaluated HBV and/or HCV in nail salon settings and three of the five showed association with HBV and one of the five showed association with HCV. Eight of the nine case-control studies evaluated HBV and/or HCV in barbershop settings and five showed association with HBV and two showed association with HCV. The case-series studies and surveys are less indicative of an association for HBV and HCV in nail salon or barbershop settings. Caution is required in interpreting these findings because there are substantial heterogeneities in the population studied, sample size, case and control selection, analytic method, and control of confounding variables across studies. Furthermore, none of the nine case-control studies was conducted in the United States. 

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have specific guidelines for the prevention of HBV or HCV infection in nail salons and barbershops, according the Virginia Department of Health, and neither the current CDC case report form for HBV or HCV nor the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System captures barbering, manicures or pedicures as risk factors for transmission of hepatitis infection. 

"The absence of infection control guidelines from federal health agencies (CDC and OSHA) for the prevention of hepatitis infections in nail salons and barbershops implies that barbering, manicure and pedicure have not emerged as significant risk factors for HBV and HCV infections in the United States," commented Dr. Johnson. "The true magnitude of this risk has yet to be defined and clearly needs further study." 

In the meantime, Dr. Johnson urged nail salon and barbershop customers to be aware of the potential risks for hepatitis transmission, and to take precautions including asking questions to determine whether or not the nail salon or barbershop is properly cleaning and disinfecting tools and equipment. He also suggests customers bring their own equipment like clippers, razors and nail files (both men and women). 

"No one should accept on blind trust that a business is taking the necessary steps to prevent transmission of bloodborne infections such as hepatitis," said Dr. Johnson. "Health care providers need to be aware of these risks –both for appropriate counseling of their patients, and when assessing possible causality in patients with hepatitis B or C." 

Based on the Virginia Department of Health report there are several proposed recommendations to eliminate the potential transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in nail salon and barbershop settings. These include: training for all nail salon and barbershop technicians, educating them about transmission of blood-borne infections and emphasizing principles of good hygiene, antisepsis and disinfection; as well as more stringent personal hygiene, storage, disinfection and inspection requirements. 

About Hepatitis 

Hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, refers to a group of viral infections that affect the liver. The most common types are Hepatitis A (HCA), Hepatitis B (HBV)), and Hepatitis C (HCV). HBV and HCV are primarily transmitted through blood. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), viral hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplantation. While an estimated 4.4million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis--most do not know they are infected. About 80,000 new infections occur each year although the clinical consequences of severe liver disease (e.g. cirrhosis/cancer) may not be recognized for 10-20 yrs after the infection. 

Injection drug use accounts for most HCV infections in the United States and most developed nations. In developing nations, unsafe medical injections and blood transfusions are the primary risk factors for HCV infections. 

Source: American College of Gastroenterology [October 31, 2011]

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