Leafy green vegetables, folate, and some multivitamins could serve as protective factors against lung cancer in current and former smokers, according to a study that is a first step in understanding a complex association. The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study appeared online Jan. 12, 2010, in Cancer Research.
NIH and D.C. Department of Health Team up to Combat District’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic
January 12, 2010 | by
Officials from the National Institutes of Health and the city of Washington, D.C. today announced the new D.C. Partnership for HIV/AIDS Progress, a collaborative research initiative between NIH and the D.C. Department of Health designed to decrease the rate of new HIV infections in the city, improve the health of district residents living with HIV infection, and strengthen the city’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The partnership is being co-led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, and the D.C. Department of Health.
Gene Mutations Reveal Potential New Targets for Treating a Type of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
January 11, 2010 | by
Researchers have discovered genetic mutations that may contribute to the development of an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. These findings provide insight into a mechanism that cancer cells may use to survive, thus identifying potential new targets for treatment of the disease. The study conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Human Genome Research Institute, components of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues appeared Jan. 7, 2010, in Nature.
NIDA Researchers Discover a New Mechanism Underlying Cocaine Addiction
January 7, 2010 | by
Researchers have identified a key epigenetic mechanism in the brain that helps explain cocaine’s addictiveness, according to research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The study, published in the January issue of the journal Science, shows how cocaine affects an epigenetic process (a process capable of influencing gene expression without changing a gene’s sequence) called histone methylation. These epigenetic changes in the brain’s pleasure circuits, which are also the first impacted by chronic cocaine exposure, likely contribute to an acquired preference for cocaine.
Small Changes in Protein Chemistry Play Large Role in Huntington’s Disease
December 24, 2009 | by
In Huntington’s disease, a mutated protein in the body becomes toxic to brain cells. Recent studies have demonstrated that a small region adjacent to the mutated segment plays a major role in the toxicity. Two new studies supported by the National Institutes of Health show that very slight changes to this region can eliminate signs of Huntington’s disease in mice.
