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CCBAR Newsletter – April-May, 2009

Editors:  Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau

CCBAR News

Proceedings of the 2008 CCBAR, NIA, and Centers on Aging Biomarker Network Biodemography Focus Session are published and available online.  Please visit CCBAR website at http://biomarkers.uchicago.edu/workshopproceedings.htm


News From the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ and PNAS

[Economic_Sciences] A randomized trial of the effect of estrogen and testoste... 
Existing correlative evidence suggests that sex hormones may affect economic behavior such as risk taking and reciprocal fairness. To test...

[Neuroscience] Distinct patterns of brain activity in young carriers of the A...
The APOE 4 allele is a risk factor for late-life pathological changes that is also associated with anatomical and functional...

[Psychology] Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory
The income–achievement gap is a formidable societal problem, but little is known about either neurocognitive or biological mechanisms that might...

[News Focus] Origins: On the Origin of The Immune System
Did the immune system evolve to keep out harmful organisms, or is it like a bouncer at a nightclub, trained to allow the right microbes in and kick the less desirable ones out? In the fifth essay in Science's series in honor of the Year of Darwin, John Travis explores the evolution of the immune system.

[Anthropology-BS] Early modern human diversity suggests subdivided population...
The interpretation of genetic evidence regarding modern human origins depends, among other things, on assessments of the structure and the...

[Neuroscience] Pupillometric and behavioral markers of a developmental shift ...
The capacity to anticipate and prepare for future events is thought to be critical for cognitive control. Dominant accounts of...

[Neuroscience] The medial prefrontal cortex exhibits money illusion
Behavioral economists have proposed that money illusion, which is a deviation from rationality in which individuals engage in nominal evaluation,...

[Developmental_Biology] Longitudinal trajectories of non-rapid eye movement d...
It is now recognized that extensive maturational changes take place in the human brain during adolescence, and that the trajectories...

[Neuroscience] Dissecting the brain's fear system reveals the hypothalamus is...
Effective defense against natural threats in the environment is essential for the survival of individual animals. Thus, instinctive behavioral responses...

PERSPECTIVE: Perspective Roundtable: Screening for Prostate Cancer
In two large randomized trials, researchers examined the effect of annual prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) screening on the rate of death from prostate cancer and found that it was small and was ...

EDITORIAL: Screening for Prostate Cancer -- The Controversy That Refuses to Die
In the United States, most men over the age of 50 years have had a prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) test,1 despite the absence of evidence from large, randomized trials of a net ...

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Identification and Importance of Brown Adipose Tissue in Ad...
This study used 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomographic and computed tomographic scans to identify substantial depots of brown adipose tissue in a region extending from the anterior neck to the thorax. Such depots were found in 7.5% of the women (76 of 1013) and 3.1% of the men (30 of 959). The amount of brown adipose tissue was inversely correlated with body-mass index, especially in older people, suggesting a potential role of brown adipose tissue in adult human metabolism.

EDITORIAL: Brown Adipose Tissue -- When It Pays to Be Inefficient
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions, and complications related to obesity contribute substantially to health care costs and mortality. Since the accumulation of fat is the net result of a prolonged ...

SPECIAL ARTICLE: Changes in the Incidence and Duration of Periods without Ins...
On the basis of data from U.S. national surveys, the authors estimate that losing health insurance was more common in 2001-2004 than in 1983-1986. Between the earlier and the later surveys, people who lost insurance became more likely to transition to public insurance than to private insurance, a finding that suggests that the availability of public insurance programs has become increasingly important for people who lose their private insurance.


Biomarkers and Aging in the News Media

Women Who Keep Ovaries Live Longer
It was believed that removing a woman?s ovaries during a hysterectomy would lower her risk of ovarian cancer, but a new study has found that women who keep their ovaries live longer.
Fructose-Sweetened Beverages Linked to Heart Risks
Overweight people who consumed drinks sweetened with fructose, rather than glucose, had higher blood levels of L.D.L. and triglycerides, researchers said.
Are Cigarettes More Hazardous Than Ever?
A new study presented today suggests that the risk of getting lung cancer from smoking has increased over time due to changes in cigarette design.
Epstein-Barr Virus Linked to MS
Infection with Epstein-Barr virus appears to raise the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), Boston researchers report.
Brain Exercises May Delay Memory Loss
Engaging in activities that exercise the brain, like reading and even knitting, may delay or prevent memory loss, researchers report.
Excessive Increase In Heart Rate During Mental Stress Before Exercise Doubles...
French researchers have discovered a simple and cheap method of predicting who is at greater risk of dying suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack.
New Light Shed On Enigma Of Salt Intake And Hypertension
High salt intake is generally linked to cardiovascular disease risk. But salt-sensitive hypertension still remains an enigma. Now, investigators have shed new light on the relationship between salt intake, bodily processes, and blood pressure regulation. Within the skin, they have detected a new storage area for salt in the body. If the process behind this storage is defect, animals become hypertensive.
Waist Size Strongly Tied to Heart Disease
Even among people of normal weight, a large waist size significantly increases the risk for heart disease, a new study shows.
Coffee Perk? It May Cut Stroke Risk
A study shows the more someone drinks, the lower the chance, as Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained, on The Early Show.
Kids Can Make a Beautiful Marriage Ugly
The birth of children has an immediate negative impact on even blissfully happy couples, raising stress and undermining satisfaction levels of both husbands and wives, new research says.
Frequent Mental Distress Rarest in Hawaii
Among U.S. adults, frequent mental distress is rarest in Hawaii and most common in Kentucky, CDC researchers report.
Urine Test May Determine If A Smoker Is At Risk For Lung Cancer
Researchers may have uncovered why lung cancer afflicts some smokers and not others.
Research Links Poor Children's Stress and Brain Impairment
Children raised in poverty suffer many ill effects: They often have health problems and tend to struggle in school, which can create a cycle of poverty across generations.
One Drink a Day Tied to Lower Death Risk
For people over 55, there may be benefits in a daily cocktail.
Vitamin D Pills Cut Bone Fracture Risk
A daily dose of vitamin D supplements may cut the chance of bone fractures in people 65 and older -- provided the dose is high enough, a new research review shows.
Diet Heavy In Meat Raises Mortality Risk
The largest study of its kind finds that older people who eat large amounts of red meat and processed meats face a greater risk of death from heart disease and cancer.
Research: Diabetes Ups Alzheimer"s Risk
Diabetes can hurt the heart, the eyes and the kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes.
How the Atkins Diet Fares in Cholesterol
People who follow a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet for weight maintenance, even for as little as a month, may worsen risk factors for heart disease compared to two other popular diets, a newly published study shows.
Insomnia Raises Risk of High Blood Pressure
Insomniacs who sleep less than five hours a night are five times more likely to develop high blood pressure than sound sleepers who get enough rest, a new study shows.
Do Pesticides Make Birth Defects Crop Up?
New research shows that babies conceived in the spring and early summer have a higher risk for a wide range of birth defects, including Down syndrome, cleft palate, and spina bifida.
Fatty Fish May Cut Prostate Cancer Risk
Men who eat salmon and other fish high in omega-3 fatty acids on a regular basis have a decreased risk for developing advanced prostate cancer, new research suggests.
Decline in Mental Skills May Start in 20s
A new study shows that cognitive decline -- a condition most often associated with older or elderly adults -- actually starts to kick in relatively early in adulthood, at age 27.
Blacks Have High Heart Failure Risk
One in 100 African-Americans will suffer heart failure in the prime of his or her life, a startling new study shows.
Infant Weight Gain Linked To Childhood Obesity
An ongoing study of pregnant women and their babies has found that rapid weight gain during the first six months of life may place a child at risk for obesity by age three. Researchers studied 559 children, measuring both weight and body length at birth, six months, and three years. They found that sudden gains throughout early infancy influenced later obesity more so than weight at birth.
Are Men Are The 'Weaker' Sex? Pregnancy With Male Fetus Riskier, Study Claims
Nurses in the maternity ward often say that a difficult labor is a sign of a baby boy. Now, researchers in Israel claim that a new study provides scientific evidence that a male baby comes with a bigger package of associated risks than his female counterparts.


NIH Press Releases


New Centers Begin Recruiting for National Children's Study
The National Children's Study, the federal government's comprehensive study of how genes and the environment interact to affect children's health, has activated five additional centers to begin recruiting prospective volunteers in five new communities. These Vanguard Centers join two centers activated previously to recruit volunteers for the feasibility phase of the study, in which the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) will review the size, scope, and cost projections for the full study. The data gleaned from the feasibility phase will be used to inform the final research design.

New Early Detection Studies of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers Launched Today
Government and private sector cancer scientists today launched a research partnership to find biomarkers for lung cancer that develops in people who have never smoked. The research studies are designed to create a better understanding of the biology of lung cancer and to develop a test to detect early-stage lung cancer in lifetime nonsmokers. The Canary Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds research in early cancer detection, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, are sponsoring this multi-institutional effort. NCI's Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) and the Canary Foundation will provide initial funding of $1 million each.

New Data Analysis Shows Possible Link between Childhood Obesity and Allergies
A new study indicates there may be yet another reason to reduce childhood obesity -- it may help prevent allergies. The study published in the May issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that obese children and adolescents are at increased risk of having some kind of allergy, especially to a food. The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), both parts of the National Institutes of Health.

National Cancer Institute's Plan to Accelerate Cancer Research Announced
At the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009 in Denver, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D., announced major details, such as funding more grants, development of a platform for personalized cancer care, and an accelerated cancer genetics program, that will move cancer research forward in this new economic environment. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Free Online Toolkit Provides Standard Measures For Genome and Population Studies
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced the release of the first version of a free online toolkit aimed at standardizing measurements of research subjects' physical characteristics and environmental exposures. The tools will give researchers more power to compare data from multiple studies, accelerating efforts to understand the complex genetic and environmental factors that cause cancer, heart disease, depression and other common diseases.

Researchers Discover New Genetic Variants Associated with Increased Risk of S...
Scientists have identified a previously unknown connection between two genetic variants and an increased risk of stroke, providing strong evidence for the existence of specific genes that help explain the genetic component of stroke. The research was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health and by several other NIH institutes and centers.

New NIH Recovery Act Opportunity Seeks to Fund High Impact, Large-Scale, Acce...
The National Institutes of Health highlighted a new funding opportunity under the Recovery Act that will support approximately $200 million in large-scale research projects that have a high likelihood of enabling growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health and health care delivery. The purpose of this new program, the Research and Research Infrastructure "Grand Opportunities" (GO), is to support high impact ideas that lend themselves to short-term funding and may lay the foundation for new fields of scientific inquiry.

Exercise Is Safe, Improves Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Heart Fai...
Regular exercise is safe for heart failure patients and may slightly lower their risk of death or hospitalization, according to results from the largest and most comprehensive clinical trial to examine the effects of exercise in chronic heart failure patients. Supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, the study also found that heart failure patients who add regular, moderate physical activity to standard medical therapy report a higher quality of life compared to similar patients who receive medical therapy only.

Gene Scan Shows Body's Clock Influences Numerous Physical Functions
The pineal gland -- integral to setting the body's sleep and wake cycles -- may be involved in a broad range of bodily functions, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Using a technology that scans for the activity of thousands of genes at a time, the researchers found that the activity of more than 600 genes in the pineal gland are synchronized in some way with the 24-hour sleep and wake cycle. The genes influence such diverse functions as inflammation and immunity.

Researchers Identify Genetic Variations That May Increase Risk of Breast Cancer
Researchers have identified new genetic variations in two regions of DNA -- located on chromosomes 1 and 14 -- that may be associated with the risk of sporadic breast cancer. This study also confirms some of the previously identified associations between specific regions in the genome and breast cancer risk. The findings are reported by the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) team, which includes researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.



NIH Announcements

Recovery Act Limited Competition: Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Recovery Act 2009 Limited Competition: Enabling National Networking of Scient...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Recovery Act Limited Competition: Supporting New Faculty Recruitment to Enhan...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Novel statistical methods for human gene expression quantitative trait loci (...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Clinical Research Curriculum Award (K30)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Exploratory/Developmental Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21)
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts

Request for Information (RFI): Priorities for Biomarkers For Cancer Detection...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Independent Scientist Award (K02) PA-09-038
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) PA-09-036
Academic Career Award (K07) PA-09-041
Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) PA-09-042
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) PA-09-043
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) PA-09-040
Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24) PA-09-037
Notice of NIA Participation in PAR-07-018, "Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R21)"
New NIH Policy on Resubmission (Amended) Applications
Updates and Reminders on NIH Policy Pertaining to Grants to Foreign Institutions, International Organizations and Domestic Grants with Foreign Components
Using Systems Science Methodologies to Protect and Improve Population Health (R21)
Methodology and Measurement in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (R01)
Archiving and Development of Socialbehavioral Datasets in Aging Related Studies, (R03)
PAR-08-250
Translational Research at the Aging/Cancer Interface (TRACI) (R01)
Program Announcement: PA-08-230

Events


REVES 2009. Copenhagen, Denmark, 27-29 May 2009. "Reducing gaps in health expectancy"

The 19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics. July 5-10, 2009. Paris, France

RAND Summer Institute (RSI). RSI consists of two annual conferences that address critical issues facing our aging population. The MiniMedical School for Social Scientists will be held on July 6-7, and the Demography, Economics, and Epidemiology of Aging conference on July 8-9, 2009 in Santa Monica, CA. RSI is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health.

ICPSR Summer Program Workshop In Longitudinal Analysis Of Historical Demographic Data. July 20 - August 14, 2009. Ann Arbor, Michigan

Gerontological Society of America Annual meeting will be held November 18-22, 2009 in Hilton and Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

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This Newsletter  is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)

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