Global warming and climate change arc established facts with thoughts arising on the fate of the planet in the next few decades. One approach is through the computer models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Another is to consider how conditions changed in warmer historical periods, notably AD800-l300, the Medieval Warm Period. This…
Read moreThe BMJ has interesting debates on contentious topics and in the 22 March 2008 the question of the value of the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome is discussed.The International Diabetes Federatioi definition of the metabolic syndrome is Presence of central obesity—Waist circumference varies with ethnicity. If body mass index is >30 central obesity can be…
Read moreHaematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) circulate in the blood, where they can home to sites throughout the body. The release of these cells into the blood stream has now been found to be regulated by circadian rhythms. In mice, Haematopoietic stem cells undergo pronounced fluctuations corresponding to circadian oscillations induced by continuous light or by a…
Read moreComplex human diseases result from the interplay of many genetic and environmental factors. To build up a picture of the factors contributing to one such disease, obesity, gene expression was evaluated as a quantitative trait in blood and adipose tissue samples from hundreds of Icelandic subjects aged 18 to 85. The results reveal a tendency…
Read moreRory Watson BMJ 29th March 2008, p 687The European Food Safety Authority has rejected suggestions in a study by researchers at Southampton University last year of a link between hyper activity in children and two mixtures of food colours and the preservative sodium benzoate (Lancet 20O7; vol 370; pp 1560-7).The study, which was commissioned by…
Read moreThere were an important series of papers on energy in Proceedings of the Nutrtion Society in 2003.The first by Westerterp discussed the Impacts of vigorous and non-vigorous activity on daily energy expenditure 2003 Proceedings of the Nutrition Society vol 62, 651-661Activity intensity is a potential determinant of activity-induced energy expenditure. Tri-axial accelerometery is the most…
Read moreDifferential expression of the eukaryotic genome through cell differentiation or response to environmental changes requires specific modulation of its nuclear organization. These processes enable regulated genes to prevail against regulatory constraints of chromatin structure in which DNA is wrapped around core nucleosomes consisting of octamers of histones H2A. H2B, H3 and H4. Overcoming the structural…
Read moreThere is a very relevant Editorial in the BMJ of 8th March 2008. In February 2008, Kirsch and colleagues reported a meta-analysis of the efficacy of antidepressants using data from clinical trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. They provocatively concluded, “there seems little evidence to support the prescription of anti depressant medication to…
Read moreThe response to stress as happens in severe injury or illness is a catabolic state. This results in loss of lean body mass and a worsening physical state.It is essential that there is adequate nutritional support with protein and energy during this crisis. Catabolism results in the release of amino acids which are metabolised to…
Read moreProstate cancer is an important and increasing public health problem. It is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer, and accounts for 10% of all male cancer-related deaths. Within the last three decades. prostate cancer incidence in Scotland has more than doubled, with 2335 cases of Prostate cancer diagnosed in 2002 .…
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