CCBAR Newsletter - May, 2006

CCBAR News

• Registration for 2006 Chicago Biomarker Workshop is closed. Please contact Alicia Frasier <frasier-alicia@norc.org> if you have questions.

• Biomarker Workshop Series schedule for 2006-2007 academic year is under development now. If your research is related to biomarkers, you are working in the Chicago area and would like to present your findings at the Biomarker Workshop Series meeting, please contact Alicia Frasier <frasier-alicia@norc.org>.

News From the Nature Journals, Science, BMJ and PNAS

Banning trans fatty acids will reduce risk of heart attacks, study says

[Genetics] From the Cover: Neural mechanisms of genetic risk for impulsivity ...
Neurobiological factors contributing to violence in humans remain poorly understood. One approach to this question is examining allelic variation in...

[Medical_Sciences] Life stress and diminished expression of genes encoding gl...
by Miller, G. E., Chen, E. Despite evidence that stressful experience can exacerbate the symptoms of asthma, little is known about the biological mechanisms through which...

[Medical_Sciences] Evidence for a role of developmental genes in the origin o...
by Gesta, S., Bluher, M., Yamamoto, Y., Norris, A. W., Berndt, J., Kralisch, S., Boucher, J., Lewis, C., Kahn, C. R.
Obesity, especially central obesity, is a hereditable trait associated with a high risk for development of diabetes and metabolic disorders....

Biomarkers and Aging in the News Media

• Pregnancy gap adds risk to baby
A short or long gap between pregnancies increases the risk of problems for the second baby, research suggests.

• Mediterranean Diet May Cut Alzheimer's
New research shows that eating a Mediterranean diet, which combines fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, cereals and olive oil, may cut the risk of Alzheimer"s disease.

• Merely having an older sibling can be bad influence
Don't be so quick to pass along that sage advice to your children about "setting a good example" for a younger brother or sister. ...

• Stayin' Alive
There were 50,000 fewer deaths in 2004 than the year before " the biggest drop in the U.S. mortality rate in more than 60 years and a decrease that shocked many experts. Most of the credit goes to strides against heart disease, cancer and strokes.

• Staying Sharp As We Age
Many people think their brain will start to deteriorate as they get older. But Dr. Robert Butler of the International Longevity Center points out that doesn't have to happen. He offers tips on keeping your mental edge as you age.

• Equality puts more sparks in intimacy
Sex better among older when men, women on same level
Mature adults in countries where men and women hold equal status had more satisfying sex lives than those in male-dominated societies, according to a study billed as the first of its kind to document and compare sexual behavior and satisfaction among middle-aged and older people worldwide.

• New Death-Risk Test Predicts Baby Boomers Lifespan
It sounds like a perfect parlor game for baby boomers suddenly confronting their own mortality: What are your chances of dying within four years? Researchers have come up with 12 risk factors to try to answer that for people over age 50.
Take The Test!

• Pill May Have Lasting Effect On Sex Drive
Low sex drive in women, often caused by stress levels or psychological factors, has another culprit. It is the birth control pill, and a recent study shows it may have lasting effects.

• Diabetes raises early death risk
Younger people with Type 2 diabetes face three times the early death risk than their peers, a study says.

• Spring babies 'face suicide risk'
People born in the spring or early summer face an increased risk of suicide, research suggests.

• Study Says Older Americans Are Less Healthy Than British
The U.S. spends more than twice as much on health care, but Americans 55 and over are sicker than their British counterparts.

• Are body's ills really all in the mind?
When the woman, having experienced her fourth miscarriage, visited her physician, he gave her a surprising diagnosis: psychosomatic abortion. That is, she had lost the fetuses because of stresses in her life, particularly concerns about her religious affiliation and her husband's unwillingness to help out at home.

• Walking Test May Predict Elders' Death
For people in their 70s, finishing a quarter-mile walking test may bode well for their risk of dying, developing heart disease, or becoming disabled in the next six years.

• Hormones May Affect How Brain Listens, Emory Study Finds
From zebra fish to humans, reproductive hormones govern behavioral responses to courtship signals. A study conducted in songbirds suggests that hormones may also modulate the way the auditory system processes courtship signals. Hormones may affect how birds listen to courtship songs when it's time to reproduce.

More up-to-date news are available at the CCBAR website

NIH Press Releases

Lifestyle Changes Can Help Older Hispanics Manage Diabetes
National Institute on Aging (NIA) News Release "Lifestyle Changes Can Help Older Hispanics Manage Diabetes", Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Study Reveals New Genes for Excessive Alcohol Drinking
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) News Release "Study Reveals New Genes for Excessive Alcohol Drinking", Monday, April 17, 2006

Initial Results of the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) Released: Ost...
National Cancer Institute (NCI) News Release "Initial Results of the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) Released: Osteoporosis Drug Raloxifene Shown to be as Effective as Tamoxifen in Preventing Invasive Breast Cancer", Monday, April 17, 2006

Study Finds Middle-Aged Americans Not as Healthy as English Counterparts
National Institute on Aging (NIA) News Release "Study Finds Middle-Aged Americans Not as Healthy as English Counterparts", Tuesday, May 2, 2006

NIH Announcements

Cell Lineage and Developmental Studies in Hearing and Balance (R21)

Developmental Psychopharmacology (R01)

Basic and Translational Research in Emotion (R01)

Events

2006 Chicago Biomarker Workshop, Chicago, June 8-9, 2006

C2S Summer Biomarker Institute, Chicago, June 19-21, 2006
Application deadline: April 7, 2006

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

Please send email to nsgavril@uchicago.edu with subject <unsubscribe> if you would like to remove yourself from the list