The answer to longevity may be far simpler than we imagine; it may in fact be right under our noses in the form of a morning caffeine kick. The elderly inhabitants of Ikaria, the Greek island, boast the highest rates of longevity in the World, and many scientists turn to them when looking to discover the 'secrets of a longer life'. In a new study in Vascular Medicine, published by SAGE, researchers investigating cardiovascular health believe that a cup of boiled Greek coffee holds the clue to the elderly islanders' good health.
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Study shows additional role for abiraterone in blocking tumor growth in CRPC
As part of an EU-supported IMI-PREDECT consortium, a Dutch study showed that anti-androgenic properties of the drug abiraterone may provide an additional mechanism of action in blocking tumour growth of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The study, which won the first prize for best abstract in oncology at the 28th European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress to be held in Milan from March 15 to 19, demonstrated that although the use of abiraterone can potentially lead to an accumulation of precursor hormones, its anti-androgenic properties may stop precursor hormone-induced androgen receptor (AR) activation.
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Lower incidence of genital warts in young girls
The incidence of genital warts, or condylomata, declined by 93 per cent in girls given the HPV vaccine before the age of 14, according to a Swedish national registry study. The study was carried out by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Using a selection of population-based registries, the researchers at Karolinska Institutet studied 124,000 girls and women in Sweden between 10 and 44 years old who had received the HPV vaccine against condyloma and cervical cancer at some time between 2006 and 2010.
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Anemia drugs does not improve health of anemic heart failure patients
Researchers from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have found that a commonly used drug to treat anemia in heart failure patients does not improve patients' health, nor does it reduce their risk of death from heart failure. Results of the international study were presented at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in San Francisco on March 10 and published simultaneously online by The New England Journal of Medicine. Initiated in 2006, the RED-HF (Reduction of Events With Darbepoetin Alfa in Heart Failure) trial involved 2,278 anemic heart failure patients at 453 sites in 33 countries.
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Heart attack rates rise with plunging GDP in Greece's financial crisis
Heart attack rates have spiked in Greece since the start of the country's financial crisis, especially among women and residents older than 45, according to a study of patient records being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. The study examined the medical records of 22,093 patients admitted to the cardiology department of the General Hospital of Kalamata over an eight-year span, with patients divided into a pre-financial crisis period from January 2004 through December 2007 or the crisis period, January 2008 through December 2011.
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Trackable drug-filled nanoparticles - a potential weapon against cancer
Tiny particles filled with a drug could be a new tool for treating cancer in the future. A new study published by Swedish scientists in Particle & Particle Systems Characterization shows how such nanoparticles can be combined to secure the effective delivery of cancer drugs to tumour cells - and how they can be given properties to make them visible in MR scanners and thus rendered trackable.
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Cell discovery could hold key to causes of inherited diseases
Fresh insights into the protective seal that surrounds the DNA of our cells could help develop treatments for inherited muscle, brain, bone and skin disorders. Researchers have discovered that the proteins within this coating - known as the nuclear envelope - vary greatly between cells in different organs of the body. This variation means that certain disease causing proteins will interact with the proteins in the protective seal to cause illness in some organs, but not others.
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