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CCBAR Newsletter – October, 2009

Editors:  Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau

CCBAR News

October 17-21, 2009 Chicago hosted an international conference, "Neuroscience 2009," with more than 30,000 participants and a keynote presentation by newly appointed Director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, MD, PhD.  Among his current NIH priorities: search for genetic biomarkers of disease (including genetic markers with moderate risk and moderate prevalence), studies of rare diseases (eg Fragile X syndrome), stem cell research and international health issues. Several Neuroscience 2009 symposiums covered issues related to aging, for example: "Nutrition, Brain Aging, and Neurodegenerative Diseases," "Neurogenesis in Aging and in Alzheimer Disease," "Steroid Hormone Aging." A lecture by G. M. Cole at a symposium on nutrition and brain aging demonstrated beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA) on neurogenesis and partial reversal of insulin resistance among brain cells in AD animal models. Presentation by M.P. Mattson (NIA) at the symposium on neurogenesis discussed loss of sensitivity to insulin and impaired mitochondrial function in AD brain cells. Finally, the symposium on steroid hormones and aging discussed new results of several NIA-funded program projects studying the effects of estrogens and natural progesterone on brain aging. It was shown that both estrogen and progesterone administered separately and progesterone added to estrogen in a cycling manner demonstrated neuroprotective effects in ovariectomized mice models while synthetic progestin MPA had no neuroprotective effects. At the Conference Exhibit several companies (like Salimetrics) offered saliva assays (including assay for melatonin) although there were no assays for dried blood spots. Increasingly, CCBAR researchers are finding that traditionally basic and clinical science meetings offer relevant and stimulating learning opportunities and resources for biosocial scientists.

News from the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ, PNAS and JAMA

Ageing: Live longer, but how?
Caloric restriction extends the lifespan of many model organisms, a finding that has prompted some people to drastically reduce their food intake in the hope of upping their longevity. But how exactly caloric restriction

Finding the missing heritability of complex diseases
Genome-wide association studies have identified hundreds of genetic variants associated with complex human diseases and traits, and have provided valuable insights into their genetic architecture. Most variants identified so far confer relatively small increments in risk, and explain only a small pr...

Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease: the dilemma of silent disease

Training induces changes in white-matter architecture
Although previous work has shown that extensive training in the complex visuo-motor skills involved in juggling results in adult gray-matter changes, it is unclear whether such practice can produce similar changes in adult white matter. This paper now uses diffusion tensor imaging to demonstrate str...

Emotionally stressed
Breast cancer could be exacerbated by social isolation, a study in mice has suggested.Suzanne Conzen and colleagues at the University of Chicago, USA, raised mice that were genetically predisposed to developing breast cancer either in groups or isolated from the time that they were

Culture rather than genes provides greater scope for the evolution of large-s...
Whether competition among large groups played an important role in human social evolution is dependent on how variation, whether cultural...

Life and death during the Great Depression [Social_Sciences]
Recent events highlight the importance of examining the impact of economic downturns on population health. The Great Depression of the...

From the Cover: Long-term risk preference and suboptimal decision making foll...
Individuals who abused alcohol at an early age show decision-making impairments. However, the question of whether maladaptive choice constitutes a...

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION: Incidence and Mortality of Hip Fractures in the United...
Context  Understanding the incidence and subsequent mortality following hip fracture is essential to measuring population health and the value of improvements in health care.
Objective  To examine trends in hip fracture incidence and resulting mortality over 20 years in the US Medicare pop...

Trends in Down's syndrome live births and antenatal diagnoses in England and ...
Objectives To describe trends in the numbers of Down’s syndrome live births and antenatal diagnoses in England and Wales from 1989 to 2008.
Design and setting The National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register holds details of 26488 antenatal and postnatal diagnoses of Down’s syndrome made ...

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION: Omega-3 Augmentation of Sertraline in Treatment of Dep...
Context  Studies of depressed psychiatric patients have shown that antidepressant efficacy can be increased by augmentation with omega-3 fatty acids.
Objective  To determine whether omega-3 improves the response to sertraline in patients with major depression and coronary heart disease (CH...

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION: Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk of Hip Fracture
Context  Recent studies indicate common etiologies for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and osteoporotic fractures.
Objectives  To examine the relation between CVD and risk of hip fracture in twins and evaluate the relative importance of genetics and lifestyle factors in this association.


Biomarkers and Aging in the News Media

Three U.S. Scientists' Genetic Work Earns Nobel Prize for Medicine
Three American scientists shared a Nobel Prize on Monday for deciphering how cells protect their genes as they divide repeatedly throughout an organism's life, a crucial discovery with far-reaching implications for aging's effects, as well as cancer and other diseases.
U.S. Kids May Need More Vitamin D
Millions of children in the U.S. may not have enough vitamin D, and African-American and Hispanic kids are especially at risk, a new study suggests.
Why experts say younger, smarter wives make for a long marriage
The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you, say experts.
Fat liver, not belly, may be best indicator of health problems
For years, scientists have warned people that having an apple-shaped figure or a beer belly is a health risk.
Consumer Reports Insights: To thrive longer, get stronger
Which is more important for healthy aging: exercises that work the heart and lungs, or muscle- pumping strength training? Both are valuable, of course, but many experts now say strength training may be the key to preventing disability as you age. Declining muscle mass not only undermines your phy...
With aging, it's like mother, like daughter
There may be some truth to the saying that all women will eventually turn into their mothers, with a U.S. study finding daughters age and wrinkle like their mothers.
Decline in Fitness Accelerates After Age 45
Fitness levels decline with age and accelerates after age 45 in men and women, a new study says, but staying at a healthy weight and engaging in regular physical activity can help determine fitness levels, too.
Nothing to Fear From the Big Bald Wolf
Elk have little to fear from an aging predator [Read more]
Heart Attacks on the Rise in Women
Two new studies show the number of heart attacks among middle-aged women is rising while falling among men, but the risk of death after a heart attack is improving more for women than men.
Are you at risk for sudden death?
Heart attacks aren't just for older, overweight men with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Even if you work out and eat healthy, you could still be at risk.
Maternal High-Fat Diet Has Serious Implications For Brain Development Of Offs...
Feeding high-fat food to pregnant mice can affect their pups' brain development in ways that may cause them to be more vulnerable to obesity and to engage in addictive-like behaviors in adulthood, a new study has found.
Losing While Cruising To The Store: Obesity Linked To Fewer Neighborhood Food...
Contrary to what you might believe, living near a variety of restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets and even fast food outlets actually lowers your risk for obesity, according to a new study. Surprisingly, people who live more than a half mile away from any food outlets are the ones who tend to be fatter.
Scientists Discover Gene That 'Cancer-proofs' Naked Mole Rat's Cells
Despite a 30-year lifespan that gives ample time for cells to grow cancerous, a small rodent species called a naked mole rat has never been found with tumors of any kind -- and now biologists think they know why.
Marker May Predict Multiple Sclerosis Severity
A newly identified biomarker may be linked to the severity of multiple sclerosis and may one day help with diagnosis and treatment of the often frustrating and unpredictable disease.
VItal Signs: Babies Born to Childhood Cancer Survivors Do Well
Newborns of cancer survivors did not face an increased risk of birth defects or death.
Protect your breasts ? get your heart pumping
 Exercise is known to help reduce a woman?s risk of breast cancer. But how much and what kind is best? Recent research helps women maximize their efforts.
Vital Signs: Nutrition: Lower Depression Risk Linked to Mediterranean Diet
A Mediterranean may protect not just the heart, but mental health as well, a new study finds.
Gene Tweak May Keep Hearts Younger
A certain form of the P13K gene could be a key to keeping the heart young and preventing age-related heart failure, Japanese researchers report.
Gene Linked to Longer, Skinnier Life
Scientists have discovered a gene called S6K1 that may affect longevity and leanness.
Vitamin D May Help Prevent Falls
Taking vitamin D supplements, at a dose of 700-1000 international units per day, may make falling 19% less likely for people age 65 and older.
Signs Of Macular Degeneration May Predict Heart Disease
A large study found strong evidence that older people who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), although not for stroke. This result adds to mounting evidence that AMD and cardiovascular disease may share some risk factors--smoking, high blood pressure, inflammatory indicators such as C-reactive protein, genetic variants such as complement factor H--and disease mechanisms.
Women's Weight Tied to Healthy Aging
For women, the odds of being healthy at age 70 are best for those who don't gain a lot of weight between ages 18 and 50 and who aren't obese at 50, a new study shows.


NIH Press Releases

Study Conclusively Ties Rare Disease Gene to Parkinson's
An international team led by a National Institutes of Health researcher has found that carriers of a rare, genetic condition called Gaucher disease face a risk of developing Parkinson's disease more than five times greater than the general public. The findings were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NHGRI Launches Improved Online Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, today launched the next generation of its online Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms. The glossary contains several new features, including more than 100 colorful illustrations and more than two dozen 3-D animations that allow the user to dive in and see genetic concepts in action at the cellular level.

NIH Awards New Grants to Build Capacity in Informatics in Global Health
The Fogarty International Center, part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced it will award more than $9.23 million to eight global health informatics programs over the next five years. Fogarty's Informatics Training for Global Health program is intended to increase informatics expertise in low- and middle-income countries by training scientists to design information systems and apply computer-supported management and analysis to biomedical research. Medicine and biomedical research are knowledge-based fields that depend upon the sharing of information. Informatics, the science of handling large volumes of information, can help link physicians and researchers around the world so that they can share knowledge ranging from the best care of patients to issues in collaborative research.

Investment in Parkinson's Disease Data Bank Yields Potential Therapy
Individuals with Parkinson's disease who have higher levels of a metabolite called urate in their blood and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have a slower rate of disease progression, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

NIH Awards Grants to Examine Factors Influencing Women's Careers in Science
The National Institutes of Health announced today that it will fund 14 grants focusing on factors that influence the careers of women in biomedical and behavioral science and engineering. The grants are estimated to total $16.8 million over four years.

NHLBI to Convene Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine
With advancements in the field of stem cell research accelerating, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will hold its third Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine to review the latest findings in the field and examine future directions. The symposium will include a discussion on ways to move promising findings in the laboratory into clinical trials, in hopes of speeding stem cell-related treatments to patients.

NIH Grantees Win 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Telomere Rese...
The 2009 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine is shared by three grantees of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D, of University of California, San Francisco; Carol W. Greider, Ph.D, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The three researchers, supported by NIH funding for decades, are honored for discovering how chromosomes are protected against degradation by telomeres through the enzyme telomerase. Their discoveries added a new dimension to the scientific community's understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and introduced new directions for the development of potential new therapies.


NIH Announcements

Restructured Application Forms and Instructions for Submissions for FY2011 Fu...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Nathan Shock Centers Of Excellence in Basic Biology of Aging (P30)
RFA-AG-10-009, Expiration Date: December 12, 2009
Secondary Analyses of Existing Data Sets and Stored Biospecimens to Address Clinical Aging Research Questions (R01)
PA-09-265, Expiration Date: January 8, 2013
Summer Research Training in Aging for Medical Students (T35)
RFA-AG-10-007, Expiration Date:  December 4, 2009
NIA Intervention Testing Program Solicits Proposals for Compounds to Test for Anti-Aging Activity in Mice
NOT-AG-09-007 Receipt for Proposals: December 18, 2009 
Effects of Gene-Social Environment Interplay on Health and Behavior in Later Life (R01)
RFA-AG-10-006    Expiration date: 2009/11/10
Healthy Aging through Behavioral Economic Analyses of Situations (R01) 
RFA-AG-10-008  Expiration date: 2009/11/03
Exploratory Innovations in Biomedical Computational Science and Technology (R21)
PAR-09-219  Expiration date: 2012/09/08
The Human Connectome Project (U54)
RFA-MH-10-020  Expiration date: 2009/11/25
Development and Validation of Disease Biomarkers (R01)
(PA-09-204)
Identification and Characterization of Sensitive Periods for Neurodevelopment...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts



Events

NIH videocasts:

Stress and Health: From Molecules to Societies
Air date: 10/28/2009 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time
Widening the Use of Electronic Health Record Data for Research
Air date: Friday, October 30, 2009, 8:00:00 AM
Non-invasive Methods for Measuring Stress and Immune Biomarkers to Monitor CAM Interventions: Development and Challenges
Air date: Monday, November 02, 2009, 10:00:00 AM

Conferences:

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

2010 Population Association of America Annual meeting will be held April 15-17 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas, TX

The 22nd REVES meeting on health expectancy will be held in La Habana, Cuba, from May 19th to May 21st 2010

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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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