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Risk For Obesity Increased By Short Sleep Duration And Race
According to a research abstract presented on June 8, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, race significantly influences the risk of obesity conferred by short sleep duration, with blacks having a greater risk than whites.
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Statistics Show Drop In Births, Lower Demand For Infertility Services During Recession
More people in the Atlanta area and across the U.S. are delaying pregnancy in a possible reaction to the current economic recession, leading to a decline in the number of couples seeking infertility treatments, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. According to the Journal-Constitution, 13 states saw a decrease in the number of recorded births in 2008 compared with 2007. The Georgia Hospital Association reports that there were 5,352 fewer recorded births in Georgia in 2008 than in 2007. Mark Perloe of Georgia Reproductive Specialists said there has been a 20% decline in the number of people seeking infertility services. To retain business during the economic downturn, Perloe said Georgia Reproductive Specialists is offering a discount on select services of as much as 70%.Elisabeth Burgess, a Georgia State University sociology professor who focuses on families, said, "In times of economic downturns, different people react in different ways." For some people, "[f]amily becomes more important, so you might decide to have a child." The Journal-Constitution reports that one cycle of treatment can cost $15,000 or more, which some people pay for through credit, retirement savings or home equity loans. Evelina Sterling, co-author of a book on budgeting finances for infertility treatments, said that 70% of infertility patients cover the costs of the treatments completely out of pocket. She added that some older infertility patients "can"t wait on" the economy to recover to start a family.Carol Hogue, a professor of maternal and child health at Emory University, said there has been a "very predictable" pattern of reduced births during periods of economic recessions dating back to the Great Depression. The Journal-Constitution reports that some people delay planned pregnancy because of concerns over job security, health insurance, income and the cost of raising a child. Statistics from USDA show that the average middle-class family will pay $11,000 to raise a child in the first year, with the largest portion of that cost going to child care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported in 2007 -- the latest year for which data are available -- that prenatal care and routine delivery costs about $7,600 after insurance (Cash, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/24).
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Seasonal Flu Vaccine Unlikely To Protect Against New H1N1 Says CDC
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccination with seasonal flu vaccines made for the 2005 to 2009
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Mouse Study Shows PET Can Measure Effectiveness Of Novel Breast Cancer Treatment

A new study published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET) scans in mice can be used to determine whether a novel type of breast cancer treatment is working as intended. Researchers successfully used PET and a specially-developed radioactive compound to image HER2 - a protein often associated with aggressive breast cancer - in breast cancer cells before and after treatment aimed at decreasing HER2 expression. This molecular imaging methodology could facilitate development of new targeted therapies not only for breast cancer, but also for certain types of ovarian, prostate, and lung cancers that may be aggravated due to HER2. "Obtaining an accurate assessment of the HER2 expression levels in breast cancer tumors is absolutely essential to know whether treatment aimed at reduction of the protein levels in tumor cells is effective," said Jacek Capala, senior author of the study and investigator for the radiation oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. "Our study indicates that PET could be a powerful tool both to identify patients who might benefit from targeted molecular therapies and to manage their care by measuring response to treatment. As research into HER2 therapies continues, similar techniques could be developed for other cancers overexpressing different proteins." Much new research has been focused on developing therapies targeted to HER2. This protein is overexpressed in approximately 20 percent of breast cancers and also in some ovarian, prostate and lung cancers. Tumors that have an overabundance of HER2 protein are more aggressive and more likely to recur than tumors that do not overexpress the protein. The imaging technique developed in the study represents a breakthrough in measuring HER2 expression. The conventional method requires biopsies of tumors that have been removed from the body; however, these samples may not represent the overall characteristics of the tumor and may not accurately estimate HER2 expression. In addition, there are currently no means to evaluate how long a therapeutic agent takes to affect the targeted tumors and how long the effects last. In the study, researchers attached the radioactive nuclide flourine-18 to an HER2-binding variant of a small protein known as an Affibody molecule. PET scans can detect the Affibody compound and allow researchers to visualize breast cancer tumors with HER2 protein in mice. These molecules can also be engineered to specifically bind to other targets for cancer diagnosis and therapy. The researchers implanted human breast cancer cells - expressing either very high or high levels of HER2 - under the skin of mice to show that this method of imaging can be used to monitor changes in HER2 expression after treatment. Researchers then intravenously injected the HER2-targeting Affibody compound and performed PET imaging three to five weeks after tumors had formed. Four doses of the drug 17-DMAG were administered, which decreases HER2 expression, spaced 12 hours apart. PET scans were performed before the treatment and after each dose. The researchers found that HER2 expression was reduced by 71 percent in mice bearing tumors with very high levels of HER2 protein and by 33 percent in mice bearing tumors with high levels of the protein, compared to the levels measured before treatment and to tumors that did not receive the treatment. Researchers confirmed their data using established laboratory techniques to determine the concentrations of HER2 proteins in the same tumors after they were removed from the mice. G. Kramer-Marek, D.O. Kiesewetter, J. Capala, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Md.; and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, NIH; "Changes in HER2 Expression in Breast Cancer Xenografts After Therapy Can Be Quantified Using PET and 18F-Labeled Affibody Molecules," The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, July 2009. Amy Shaw Society of Nuclear Medicine


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